


And You'll Be My Superman

by Button_Neck



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, Supergirl au, mild violence, will add tags when needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2018-11-03 23:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Button_Neck/pseuds/Button_Neck
Summary: After Hades finally gets thrown in jail for his crimes, his mysterious son, Nico, takes over the family business. No one quite knows what to expect from him since he’s been practically hidden from the world since his mother and sister’s untimely deaths; but Jason’s not going to let that stop him from figuring out what Nico’s intentions might be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> honestly idk where this came from, i just really wanted to write some jasico and somehow this is what i came up with.  
> i've also never finished a multi chaptered thing before so i'm really challenging myself with this one! updates will probably be pretty irregular since my work schedule can change week to week. this is very loosely based on season 2 of the supergirl tv show
> 
> a big thanks to [billiemontine](http://archiveofourown.org/users/billiemontine/profile) for being my beta reader!

The di Angelos were like weeds, you get rid of one and another pops up seemingly out of nowhere.  

Hades di Angelo had finally been put away for his multiple crimes and was no longer in charge of his company, only now his son had take his place. Not much was known about Hades’ family, only that his wife died in a tragic accident, and his daughter, Bianca, only a little older than her brother, Nico, died as well not too long ago. Hades had kept Nico out of the public’s eye since then, no one knew anything about him, other than that he was the son of a now known notorious villain. Needless to say his acquisition of his father’s company put quite a few people on edge. Especially the heroes. 

This was how Jason found himself standing outside of di Angelo Incorporated, with an appointment to interview the new CEO. He had been lucky to convince Snapper that he would be able to get an interview with di Angelo and wouldn’t be wasting his time or resources. 

After showing his ID and confirming his appointment Jason rode the elevator to the top floor. He took a minute to take a breath. He had no idea what to expect from this man, but then again that was kind of the reason he was here. Still for a moment he wished Supergirl were with him; with the di Angelos’ being her arch nemesis she knew far more about them than almost anyone else. She’d probably know what to look for, what kind of questions to ask to make him say something he shouldn’t. Though then again she had only ever dealt with Hades.

When the doors finally opened Jason approached the receptionist and repeated the same process he’d undergone when he entered the building, a few minutes later he was shown through to di Angelo’s office. 

The room was plain white and pristine, natural light bounced off the walls from the floor to ceiling windows, which were partially blocked by a desk. A dark clad figure leaned against the desk with his back turned to Jason. 

_ This must be Nico di Angelo. _ Jason thought. 

He seemed either unaware or uninterested that he had a visitor. Jason took the opportunity to do a quick x-ray scan of the room, but found nothing. Finally Mr. di Angelo turned and sat the tablet he’d been using on the desk. Now that Jason could see him better he noticed that he was dressed in a dark grey suit with a complementary red dress shirt, and his hair was clearly longer than standard, but was currently pulled back. 

“Jason Grace,” he said, still having not looked up at him. “From CatCo Magazine, not exactly known for it’s hard hitting journalism. Either they don’t think I’m as much of a threat as I was lead to believe, or they just sent you here to insult me.” Finally he looked up at Jason. “So which is it?”

“I-uh-neither.” Jason fumbled with his notepad under the intense stare. Mr. di Angelo raised an eyebrow at him as he sat down. 

“Really? Are you sure you’re not here to ask me who designs my clothes or how I style my hair?” He leaned back in his chair. “Because I don’t have time for that, I’m a very busy man Mr. Grace.”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Ask me what you want to ask. I’m assuming your first question is if I’m anything like my father?”

“...Are you?”

“I can say I’m nothing like him as much as I please, but people won’t believe that. I have to prove it.”

“Which is why I’m here. You’re now the head of an extremely well known company, and no one knows anything about you other than who your father is. People want to know who  _ you _ are. What your plans for this company are.” 

“Who am I? Isn’t that the question of the year. I know my father has done… terrible things. All I want to do is take this company back and repair the family name. Make something good from all the bad he’s caused. A fresh start, if you will.” He stood and walked around the desk. “As for specific plans, I’m not revealing anything just yet. After all, there are so many who want to see me fail.” 

He was a couple inches shorter than Jason, so he had to look up slightly to meet his eyes. “I guess that answers my next question as to how you feel about your father being in jail.” 

“If the answer you got from that was I’m not heartbroken by the news, then sure.”

“I just have a few more questions.” Mr. di Angelo gestured for him to ask. “What’s it like to be in the spotlight after so many years of living off radar and in the shadows?” For a moment Jason thought he saw a ghost of a smile on his face.

“To be quite honest, I’d prefer to be left alone, but I understand that’s no longer a luxury of mine.”

“What did you do all those years?”

He leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms, and seemed to think for a moment before answering. “I spent a lot of that time in Italy with distant relatives.” Before Jason could ask, di Angelo continued, “on my mother’s side, no relation to Hades. My father only really called to check up on me twice a month, so I was unaware of what was going on here in the states.”

“And this was after Bianca…?”

“Yes.” He grimaced as he said it. 

“Do you think your sister would be in your position if she were still alive?”

Mr. di Angelo’s eyes hardened and whatever trace of a smile was there was now vanished and replaced by a thin line. 

“Yes, she was supposed to be the original successor.” Jason opened his mouth to ask more questions but was cut off before he could. “I think we’re done here.”

He walked toward the door and before Jason could protest he was being ushered out. 

“Have a good day, Mr. Grace.” He said as Jason left, but his face said the opposite.

 

“So how was the interview with Evil Jr.?” Thalia asked when Jason entered the DEO headquarters. 

“It’s probably something I’d avoid putting on my resume.”

“That bad huh?” She looped an arm around his shoulders. “But hey, it was only like, what? Your Third? Fourth interview?”

“He kicked me out when I brought up his sister.”

“You asked him about his sister? Bro, the dude might possibly be evil but even I know that’s no-go territory.”

“Yeah, I got that thanks. It wasn’t exactly a shining moment for me. Now I just need to figure out how to turn what I did get out of him into an actual article so Snapper won't bite my head off.” He sighed and let his shoulders sag. “Why can’t journalism be as easy as catching bad guys?”

Thalia chuckled and patted his arm before releasing him. “There, there baby bird, you’ll figure it out. Article aside, what’s your take on him?”

He stood there absently watching the monitors that covered the wall. “It’s just… I don’t know. He said he just wanted a fresh start, to make good from the bad. I mean he wasn’t nice exactly but he wasn’t horrible either. Maybe he’s telling the truth and a new start is all he’s after.”

“Children aren’t their parents.” She said. 

“You’re right.”

“But sometimes they are. I know you want to believe in the best in everyone, but until you know which one he is you gotta be careful.”

“Always.”

They didn’t get to talk much more before someone clapped Jason on the back, they turned to see Chiron.

“Jason, a word?”

“Yeah, sure.” He led Jason a short distance away. “I heard you had an interview with di Angelo today.”

“Yes sir.”

“What do you think of him?”

“I’m not sure I know enough about him to form a real opinion yet.”

“That’s fair. Though I don’t think I have to warn you to stay on your toes. Especially now that he’s in a position of power, he might be plotting some sort of revenge for his sister’s death.”

“Wait, what do you mean? Her killer was arrested.”

“According to the public that’s true.”

“But it’s not?”

“Bianca’s death wasn’t your run of the mill murder. In short she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Are you saying that…?”

“It was an accident, but it was by the carelessness of a hero all the same.”

“Why didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t anyone?” Just the look on Chiron’s face was answer enough. “You covered it up, and you blamed someone else.”

“We didn’t have a choice. There would have been too much chaos if this had gotten out, but the hero in question has long been dealt with.”

“But di Angelo knows the truth.”

“We’ve always assumed that he has. We know for sure that Hades knew, it’s one of the reasons he hates us so much.”

“If he does know then having an agent follow him around and keep tabs on him probably wouldn’t end well.”

“I know what you’re going to say, and we already have people on it.”

“Fine.” Jason said reluctantly.

“When you do encounter him, be careful and don't underestimate him.”

Chiron patted him on the shoulder and walked away. Jason made his way over to Leo, who spun around in his chair when he saw him approach. 

“So your interview didn’t go great?”

Jason looked at him for a bit before he said, “Eavesdropper.”

“One of my many talents.” Leo shrugged. “You’re still totally going to keep an eye on him aren’t you?” 

“Yep. I mean how can I not?”

“Well...”

“It’s my job to keep people safe. How can I do that if I’m not even sure he’s someone that they need to be protected from?”

“And that’s why you’re the hero between us, and I’m here at a desk, at a safe distance, where I can help in my own way.”

“Speaking of helping...”

“Already on it.” He spun back around to face the computer. “From what I’ve seen they don’t know much about him either.”

Before Jason could respond his phone rang in his pocket. 

“I gotta go, it’s work.” He said after he’d dug it out. “Then I’m probably going to spend the rest of the night figuring out how to turn this interview into an article that’s Snapper approved. Keep me updated?”

“Sure, and good luck with that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Jason replied sarcastically. 

 

The blinking line on the blank page seemed to be taunting him. Jason had already gotten up for snacks three times now, hoping that the words would come to him. But unfortunately that didn’t always work. Sometimes the only thing to do was just write, write and fix it later. So he sat himself down and did just that. 

The next day Snapper didn’t call him into his office to yell at him, so Jason assumed that it was decent enough. 

The day after, however, was a different story. Once again Jason found himself in di Angelo's office. 

“I must admit,” di Angelo said dropping the magazine onto the desk. “This isn’t quite what I expected, especially after how I ended the interview.”

“About that, I wanted to apologize for those questions about your sister. It was rude and insensitive. And I usually don’t ask questions like that, so I’m sorry.”

“But you’re a reporter, isn’t it in your job description to ask invasive questions?”

“Sometimes yes, but I try to avoid it.”

“Well thank you, for not using that against me.” He picked up the magazine. “This is just the kind of publicity that I need to help set me apart from my father. To show I'm different.”

“I just wrote what I felt was true from what I saw.” Jason shrugged. “It shouldn’t matter who your dad is, you deserve a chance to prove yourself.”

“In theory yes. But once you bring the name di Angelo into the equation that kind of thinking usually goes out the window. I'm grateful you're not one of them.” He looked down for a moment and then back up. “That's why I asked you to stop by today. To thank you sincerely, in person.”

_ Perhaps he's not the threat we thought he was.  _ Jason started to think, but then he remembered Chiron’s advice from just a few days before. ‘ _ Don't underestimate him.’   _

So Jason wouldn't. He wouldn't purposefully slander him but he would remain skeptical of di Angelo until he had proven himself like he'd promised he would.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented, gave kudos, or even read the first chapter!   
> This chapter was supposed to be the shortest in the story but then it turned out being a bit longer than I expected, whoops
> 
> once again thanks to [billiemontine](http://archiveofourown.org/users/billiemontine/profile) for being an awesome beta

When Hades had been arrested, di Angelo had stayed off camera and given only vague comments to very few news outlets. 

This would be his first real public appearance; and given who his father was, the DEO wasn’t taking chances. If he was anything like his father, he might use this spectacle as an opportunity to do harm, and if he wasn’t, better safe than sorry. 

A handful of agents, including Thalia, were scattered in the pitiful crowd of about fifty people. Jason stood in the crowd as well, but not positioned to keep watch. If anything he was just curious about di Angelo. 

Security guards were already in place when di Angelo walked down the sidewalk and onto the platform prepared for him. He seemed to take a moment to collect himself when he got to the podium. 

“Thank you all for coming today.” He began. There was a slight feedback from the microphone, once it settled he continued. “I know my father hurt a lot of innocent people. My family owes a huge debt to all of you for that, and I intend to pay it by taking back this company, and turning it into a force for good. To make it into something that my family could have been proud of. I know it won't be easy, but I believe that together we can work towards a brighter and better future.”

Before he could say anymore, the sign of his company blew up a few meters behind him. Something else exploded and everyone scrambled to get to safety. More explosions went off and had di Angelo stayed where he was he would have gone up in flames just like the platform he had been standing on.  

Jason used the chaos to change discreetly and within moments he was up in the air. Quickly he put out the fires with his freeze breath. Once that was taken care of he scouted the area below, looking for anyone that was in immediate danger. Thankfully no one seemed to be harmed. 

When Jason’s eyes found di Angelo he was walking towards a cop; but something felt  _ off _ about it. The cop reached for his gun. Jason quickly informed Thalia of the situation through his comm as he flew down, just in time. The bullet bounced off his shoulder as he rose from his crouched landing. 

“You know that doesn’t work on me.” He remarked. 

The cop aimed to shoot again anyway. Thalia came at him from behind and pushed his arm down before he fired off two more shots. Gripping his arm she spun him around so she was in front of him and elbowed him in the face before throwing the gun away. As soon as there was distance between them the cop pulled out a small knife and swiped at her face, but Thalia once again grabbed his arm and yanked him forward; she slammed her fist into the bend of his arm, causing him to loose grip on the knife, and then hit him in the face before pushing him down. He tried to get up, Thalia restrained him before he could. 

Jason and Thalia shared a nod before he turned to see if di Angelo was okay. But no one was there, he must have run off at some point during the fight. Jason searched through the crowd for him and once he found him, he took off after him. Jason wasn’t sure exactly why he felt so compelled to follow him. He didn’t even think, he just went. 

Jason watched him run into an alleyway, probably to find a quiet place to gather himself or to calm down. When Jason finally touched down at the entrance the alley was empty. Normally this wouldn’t be any cause for concern, but the ally was a dead end, there was nowhere he could have gone. Though perhaps his mind had been playing tricks on him, and he only thought he saw someone come this way…?

“Superman?” Thalia said through the comm. “Everything alright on your end?”

“Yeah....everything’s fine.” He shook his head. It didn’t matter; this had been stupid. “I'm on my way back now.” 

Jason looked down the alley once more, still seeing nothing, before taking off. 

 

Unsurprisingly, as it turned out the cop that supposedly was behind the whole thing wasn’t actually a cop. According to Thalia he wasn’t talking either, so the motivation behind the attack was still unclear.

Jason figured that maybe di Angelo would know something, since he seemed to be the focal point of the attack. 

Gracefully, he landed near the open door on the balcony outside di Angelo’s office. In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best way to approach him after the previous events of the day. Mostly because before Jason could even knock on the glass to alert him to his presense di Angelo had spun around and had a gun aimed at him. Jason quickly raised his hands to show he meant no harm. 

“Oh,” di Angelo said, his eyes widening in realization. “It’s you.”

Jason’s eyes flicked down to the gun still aimed at him, even though it couldn’t hurt him, it was unsettling to have it aimed at him. Di Angelo’s eyes followed the movement and he lowered the gun with a grimace.

“Sorry, I actually hate guns, but safety precautions. Especially after today.”

“That was quite the spectacle.”

“That’s one way to put it.” He gestured slightly, as though to invite him in. The office was darker now. Only dimly lit by the pale moonlight and the lamp on the desk; which overcasted long ominous shadows across the room. 

“Is there something I can help you with, Superman?” He asked once Jason entered his office. 

“In all the chaos earlier I didn't get to see if you were alright, you just kind of vanished.”

“Can you blame me? I don't exactly have superpowers to protect myself with.” 

“No, I suppose you don’t.”

“Is there a reason you’re here? Because if you wanted to see if I was unharmed you could have done that through the window.”

“We have your assailant in our custody, but we’re still unsure why he did what he did.”

“And you were hoping I might know something about it.”

“Do you?”

“No.” Jason must have looked like he didn't believe him because then di Angelo said, “you can believe what you want about me, but I don’t know anything. Even if I did why would you help me?”

“...Why wouldn’t I?” Jason asked a bit confused. “After all I helped you today.”

Di Angelo looked slightly taken back by the comment, as though he had forgotten that fact. 

“I suppose you did.” 

A bout of awkward silence passed between them.

“I, uh, read the article about you. The one from CatCo.” Jason finally said. “I agree, everyone should be given a fair chance.” He paused. “I don’t want to be your enemy, I have enough of those already.”

His dark eyes practically pinned Jason to the spot. “Then don’t treat me like one.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, close enough for di Angelo to hear. 

“Duty calls.” He said. 

“It was...interesting to meet you,” _yet_ _again_. Jason said walking backwards toward the door.

“Likewise. I assume I’ll be seeing you around?”

Jason tipped his head to the side as if to say,  _ yeah probably _ . He turned onto the balcony, giving di Angelo one final look before flying off into the night. 

 

Jason hit the ground hard, the cement spider webbing beneath him. He panted slightly as he stood, brushing the cement dust off himself. 

“That all you got?” 

The masked man didn’t look amused. Instead he recharged his weapon again; some sort of super fist contraption. Which, pun intended, packed quite the punch. Briefly, Jason considered how much Leo would enjoy that pun. 

The masked man charged at him again. Jason tried to fly up away from him but the man grabbed his cape and yanked him back down. He hit the ground with another  _ crack _ , nearly knocking the breath out of him. He rolled with the landing to try and get back on his feet more quickly.

_ Enough playing around.  _ Jason thought. He focused all of his attention on the weapon as the masked man walked toward him. He felt his eyes heat up as the lasers shot from his eyes. The masked man threw up the weapon to protect himself, but that just made it an easier target for Jason. 

Sparks flew, and smoke began pouring from the fist. 

With the masked man’s attention on the dysfunctioning weapon Jason made his way toward him; he could see Thalia off to the side, with a couple other agents, ready to help if needed. 

When he was only a few feet away from the masked man, the man rushed at him and slammed his hand against Jason's chest. But unlike before it didn't throw him back, in fact it had no effect on him at all. 

“Looks like your toy is broken.” He quipped. 

But the masked man didn't seem perturbed, going from the glint in his eyes. 

Before Jason could think about it too much, it hit him. He stumbled back away from the hand to see a thick needle jutting out from the palm. It didn't makes sense, his skin was impenetrable...how?

His world spun as he fell, everything around him sounded extremely far away. All of his senses felt blurred and slowed down, he could only vaguely feel his body convulsing on the ground. 

Hands were on him, and another turned his face and he saw Thalia, her head blocking out the sun. She was saying something to him but he couldn't understand. The edges of his vision began to fade as he assumed his eyes were closing, which only made Thalia look even more panicked. 

But there was nothing he could do as he plunged into darkness. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. In all his life Jason had never felt so utterly powerless. 

 

Jason woke with a start, the room spun a bit from sitting up too fast. A pair of hands gently pushed him back on the bed. 

“Easy,” Thalia said. “You might still be a bit lightheaded.”

“What…?”

She sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at him. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I….I got in a fight and….I don’t-he shouldn’t have been able to hurt me like that.”

“I know.”

Jason sat up a bit, as if just realizing something. “Did-?”

“He got away.” Thalia said before he could finish. “We managed to injure him and retrieve at least a piece of the weapon, but he got away.”

Jason swore and fell back onto the pillows rubbing a hand down his face. 

“I know you hate it when the bad guys get away,” Thalia tried. “But on the bright side, we don’t think he’ll be able to use that weapon again without the part we got our hands on.” 

That seemed to mollify Jason for the moment. 

“So what happened? What did he do to me?” When she didn’t answer right away Jason started to worry. “Thalia?”

“...We’re not a hundred percent sure what it did to you. Something like this shouldn’t even be possible. The only conclusion we’ve come up with is it has to be some form of Kryptonite, but we’ve never seen anything like this before.” She took a breath. “You really scared me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault. It’s just, you’ve always seemed so...untouchable. Even when you  _ do _ get hurt in fights you always get back up, and this time you didn’t.” 

Jason pushed himself into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around his sister. 

“I’m sorry.” 

They both knew he meant more than just those two words. They’d had this discussion before. They knew that their jobs were dangerous, they knew the risks, the worry they would cause each other every time something didn’t go according to plan. But they also knew that at the end of the day if they had helped just one person it was worth it. 

Jason let go when his head started throbbing. Thalia reached over to the nearby table and grabbed the juice pouch and a plate of cookies and donuts.

“Here, you should eat.”

Jason looked mildly confused but took them anyway and started eating.

“After we got you stabilized, all we could do was wait for whatever it was to get out of your system. So we figured we should take a few blood samples for future incidences. ‘Cause who knows when we’ll get that kind of chance again.” Thalia explained. 

There was a knock at the door before it opened. 

“You’re awake!” Leo said relieved, he made his way over to them. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better.”

“I’ll bet. You didn’t look great when they brought you in, we were all kind of worried.”

“Have you finished the analysis on the weapon yet, Leo?”

“Oh yeah, that’s actually what I came in here to tell you, it’s almost done.”

Jason sat up fully and started to get up. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Thalia asked.

“Uh, going to look at the results?” 

“No. You’re going to rest, it’s only been a day and we still don’t know if whatever it was is completely out of your system yet.”

“I feel fine now, Thalia. I’ve eaten,” he said holding up the empty juice pouch and plate. “And as you said it’s been a  _ whole _ day, I’m Superman, I don’t take sick days.”

She sighed exasperatedly as Jason got out of bed. He swayed a bit once on his feet, but it didn’t take long for him to regain his balance. 

Thalia and Leo shared a look before following him out the door. 

When they reached his desk Leo brought up the weapon analysis. It all just looked like a bunch of gibberish to Jason.

“Well? What does it say?”

“Give me a sec.” Leo said reading it over. He seemed to notice something and clicked around a bit before opening a new window; with different, but equal gibberish. 

“Wait a minute,” Thalia said staring at the screen. “Is that…?”

“Yeah.” Leo looked at Jason, “it has significant traces of di Angelo tech.”

“Oh no, I know that look.”

“Thalia--”

“No, Jason, you can’t. I don’t care how much better you say you feel, this isn’t a good idea.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“You’re right, I can’t. But if you confront him now it could be a trap.”

“Fine, I’ll go tomorrow then, as a civilian.”

“You really think you can get another interview with him?” Leo asked.

“I have too.”

 

It seemed Jason’s positive article on di Angelo had granted him some favors.  Acquiring a second interview with di Angelo was a lot easier than the first time. 

“Mr. Grace,” di Angelo said upon seeing him. “Not that you’re not welcome, but is there a reason for this visit?”

“I have a few questions to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

He gestured for Jason to take a seat while he took the one behind his desk. 

“It's been a bit frantic around here since the press conference a few days ago. Is that what this is about?”

“Not exactly.” Di Angelo narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. “A couple days ago Superman was....attacked by a new weapon. He managed to get a piece of it and ran some analysis on it.” He paused. “The results came back showing traces of di Angelo tech.”

Di Angelo didn't respond for what felt like several long minutes. 

“I guess you can't judge someone off one article or interview, can you?” He finally said, sounding bitterly resigned. 

Jason shook his head. “I'm not trying to blame you! I'm just trying to figure out what's going on; how they got their hands on your tech.”

Di Angelo leaned back in his chair and stared at Jason. 

“I haven't heard anything about this attack on the news, or anywhere for that matter. How would you even know about it?”

Jason nervously adjusted his glasses from where they'd slid down his nose. 

“I-ah-I work with Superman occasionally.” 

“I’m not sure whether I believe that or not, but then again how else would you know about it?” He sighed and looked toward his computer. “Do you know what the weapon looked like?”

“He said it looked like a fist.”

“A fist?”

“It had a needle in the palm that tried to injected him with something… The attacker seemed to only use it as a last resort.”

“You’re sure?”

Jason nodded. “That’s what he told me.”

Di Angelo got up and walked over to the wall beside his desk. On the shelf there was a small container that, once unlocked, contained a neat stack of flash drives. After glancing them over he picked one out and walked back over to where Jason sat. 

“I think this might be what you’re talking about. Not the weapon itself, that is, but what it sounds like it tried to do. This is all the information we have on the chemical.”

“What’s the chemical supposed to do?”

“It was designed to mimic the effects of kryptonite.”

“But that’s--”

“Illegal. I know, that’s why I discontinued the progress on it. I didn’t realize it had been stolen. Everything’s been a bit hectic since the press conference, and we’ve been updating our software. I thought it was just an error in the system but...I should have known better.”

Jason took the drive when di Angelo handed it to him. 

“And you’re just giving this to me?”

“Fresh start remember?”

“Right.” Jason said as he pocketed the drive; while doing so he noticed di Angelo’s hands that were moving out of view.

“Woah, what happened?” He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed it before now. Di Angelo’s knuckles were bruised and scratched up, like he’d been in a fight.

“Nothing.” He said, trying to pull his jacket sleeve down farther than it was willing to go.

“You know, you should never tell a reporter nothing happened, that only leaves room for speculation.” Jason said trying to lighten the mood. 

Di Angelo sighed before he said, “let’s just say that the press conference hasn’t been the last attack on my life.”

“Are you serious? Are you alright?”

Di Angelo seemed a bit confused by his concern. He shook his head. 

“Look I don’t want you writing an article about this.”

“Of course, this is all off record.” Di Angelo relaxed a bit at that. “Are you okay though? How often has this happened?”

“Not  _ that _ often...”

“Usually once is too often for most people.”

“I’m not most people am I?”

“Do you know who’s behind the attacks?”

“No. But I’m working on it. I appreciate the concern Mr. Grace, but I can take care of myself.”

“Then I’m probably overstepping by asking this, have you considered the possibility that it might be your father? Since you’re changing--”

“Hades may be a villain,” di Angelo said cutting him off. “And he’s where he belongs, but he wasn’t a bad father…he wouldn’t hurt me.”

But Jason wasn’t convinced he truly believed that. 

“Okay,” Jason said backing off the topic. “Well thank you for the help, it's greatly appreciated.”

Jason got up and started to make his way to the door, but stopped before he actually left the room. 

“If you ever need help or anything…”

“You know Superman.” Di Angelo finished. “Thanks, but I don't rely on superheroes to save me. I fight my own battles just fine.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to [brightlightbandit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit) for being an awesome beta!

The sound of the door rolling shut was thunderous in the long narrow hallway. The guard led the way and he followed a few steps behind. When they reached their destination the guard wordlessly unlocked and opened the door, leaving enough space for him to enter.

It was a small room with a one-way mirror on one wall and a small table in the center of the room. On one side of the table sat Hades, his hair was slicked back as usual, and his fingers were interlaced on top of the table. He turned when the door opened and was staring at him.

“Hello, father,” Nico said.

Hades smiled slightly and gestured at the chair across the table. It was as though he didn’t wear an orange jumpsuit or have his hands chained to the table; he sat as tall and regal as ever.

Nico moved out of the doorway and took a seat, the guard closing the door behind him.

“To what do I owe this visit?”

“I can’t visit my own father in prison?”

“Of course you can, but we both know you’re here for a reason.” Hades’ gaze traveled down to Nico’s bandaged hands. “You’ve been attacked.”

“Haven’t you heard the news?”

“Unfortunately no, the service here isn’t quite up to par.” He said, unamused.

“Apparently there are some people that aren’t too happy with how I’m running the company now. Others think that evidence points to you being behind the attacks.”

“You don’t honestly think that too, do you? As if I could really do anything stuck in here.”

He must have tried to wave his arms around at the small room, but the chains around his wrist _clinked_ at the attempted movement; he grimaced down at the firm reminder.

“You and I both know you have your influences, and don’t act like you think this place can hold you forever.” Nico sighed and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I think, I just need to hear you say it.”

“You know family means everything to me,” Hades said. “You're all I have left. Of course I'm not sending people after you.” It's what Nico had expected him to say, but nonetheless it felt as though a tiny weight had been lifted from his shoulders, lie or not. “I have many enemies,” Hades continued. “Something you’ve unfortunately inherited from me by taking over the company, and something you’re only going to continue to gain, since we don’t share the same…ambitions.”

“You’ve always known how I felt about that.”

“Yes, but now it could get you hurt.” He stated it far too calmly, as a fact, not a concern.

The chair scraped against the floor as Nico stood. “I can take care of myself, it would just be easier if I knew who and where the attacks were coming from. That’s the only reason I came today. _Not_ to listen to your vague threats.”

“I’m not threatening you, son.”

Nico gave him a cold smile. “Of course not, we’re family after all.”

He pushed the button near the door signalling to the guard that he was ready to leave.

“I don’t know who’s going after you, but as you said, I have my influences. I’ll find out who it is.”

“...Thank you.”

The door opened and Nico left.

 

Bad guys taken care of? Check. Civilians out of harm's way? Mostly. Stopped a giant building from crumbling to the ground? A work in progress.

So far this was not turning out to be a great week for Jason; they say a hero’s work is never done, the universe seemed to be taking that statement literally.

The building groaned and trembled beneath his hands. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up, it’s wasn’t like he could stay here forever holding the building up. Something flew past him, but before he could get a look at what it was it was gone. Moments later the building became lighter. Cautiously, Jason backed away, watching for any movements, but the building stayed put.

“I secured the support beams, which seems to have stabilized the building.” A voice said behind him. “It looked like you needed a hand, hope you don’t mind.”  He was at least thirty stories in the air, which could only mean…

“Supergirl!” Jason exclaimed when he turned around. “You’re back!”

“I got back a couple days ago.” A strange look passed over her face. “I leave for a month and a half, come back and suddenly my arch nemesis is in prison?”

“So you know.”

“Of course I know, do you really think Percy can keep a secret from me?”

“Superman,” Thalia said through the comm. “Unless you want more than your picture on the front page tomorrow, I suggest you two split up and meet somewhere more private. Preferably at the DEO so I can say hi too.”

Jason chuckled and relayed the message to Supergirl. She didn’t look thrilled about the location choice, given their past history with disagreements over kryptonite and who should serve who. Supergirl in the end chose to be a free agent and serve the people without the restrictions of the DEO an, albeit secret, government agency.

They flew off in different directions and met up at the DEO headquarters that were hidden in the city. Supergirl beat Jason there by half a second, but really, it wasn’t like they were racing or anything.

When they entered the building together everyone in the room stopped and stared at them. Jason didn’t let that deter him.

“Come on,” he said. “Thalia should be here soon.”

Supergirl hesitated for a moment before following him. As they made their way further into the building everyone else slowly went back to their previous tasks, sending glances their way every so often.

“Leo,” Jason said as he approached his desk. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Leo spun around, completely unprepared to see Jason’s guest, nearly falling out of his chair. Quickly he sat back up and looked back and forth between the two of them, wide-eyed.  

“Leo, Supergirl,” Jason said a bit amused. “Supergirl, this is my best friend Leo.”

“Nice to meet you.” She said holding out a hand.

He tried to stutter out a response until finally he took her hand and blurted out, “you’re amazing!”

“Uh, thank you.” She said with a hesitant laugh, Leo flushed.

“He’s a big fan.” Jason explained.

“Well, yeah!” Leo admitted. “I mean you’re...Supergirl, no offense Jason-oh shoot! Does she know? I didn’t just totally blow your cover did I?”

“It’s alright man, she knows.”

“We’re actually cousins.” She added.

Leo’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “What--!”

“Hey!” Thalia cut in. Supergirl turned and returned the smile. “It’s great to see you!” She said pulling her into a hug.

Leo gave Jason a _look_ while they did so. “We’re talking about this later.”

“How did things go?” Thalia asked when they parted.

“About as well as one could expect. Though I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

“Alright then. So how’s Percy?”

“He’s good, worry-free now that I’m back.”

“Wait...how do you know Percy? Unless….” Leo looked her over and his eyes widened even more with realization. “Wait a minute…. You’re _Annabeth Chase_ _?!_ ”

“Only if you can keep it a secret.”

“Of course! I mean I keep the fact that Jason’s Superman a secret. But, wow, it makes so much sense now that I think about it.” He leaned back in his chair. “How does everyone else not figure it out?”

“People usually only see what they want to see.” Jason said.

“Not that I’m not glad you’re here, but it’s a bit weird timing for a visit.” Thalia said, her and Annabeth shared a look. “Oh, you’re not here for a visit.”

“...No. I’m here about Hades’ son.”

“Di Angelo?” Leo interjected. “You know about the weapon?”

Annabeth turned sharply toward him. “What weapon?”

Leo shrank down into his chair laughing nervously. “What? Who said anything about a weapon? There’s no weapon. I’m just going to sit quietly over there.” He slowly began rolling his chair away,  “and refrain from asking more questions and saying things I shouldn’t.”

“What. Weapon.” Annabeth asked again, more insistent this time.

Jason relented with a sigh. “A few days ago I was attacked by someone who had stolen di Angelo tech, it took me down pretty quickly.”

“How?”

“It had some sort of serum that mimics kryptonite.” Thalia explained.

“Why didn’t I know about this?”

“Because it’s supposed to be classified information.” Chiron said as he approached. “Hello, Supergirl.”

“Chiron.”

“It’s good to see you back.”

“Good to be back.” She said. “What are you doing about di Angelo? About this weapon?”

“At the moment there’s not much we can do. Superman has already questioned him about it.”

“He gave us all the information he had on it for further investigation.” Jason confirmed.

“And you’re just taking his word for it?” Annabeth asked confused.

“Until we have solid proof of anything that’s all we can do.” Thalia said.

“So you’re not even looking into it?”

“We’ve been keeping an eye on him for anything suspicious,” Chiron said. “But so far we’ve found nothing.”

He seemed to notice something off to the side and the others turned to look, someone was waving to get his attention.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he said. “It appears I’m needed elsewhere.”

They watched him go. Annabeth shook her head and turned back to Jason.

“What about you? What do you think of him, honestly.”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean of all the times I’ve spoken with him, both as a civilian and as Superman he seemed genuine, like he really does want to be set apart from his father.”

An unreadable expression crossed her face, but Jason got the gist of it.

“Jason--”

He cut her off before she could continue. “I believe in giving everyone a chance to prove themself.”

“So do I! But you have to be logical about it! Otherwise you get hurt!” She quickly composed herself and glanced around to see the reactions to her outburst. “I should go. I’m staying in town for a while, so I’ll see you around.”

With that she was gone.

 

It had only been a few days since his (unofficial) second interview with di Angelo, so Jason was a bit surprised to see that he’d received an email directly from the man.

The wording was formal and stiff as though he was reluctant to send it in the first place. But after reading the email --which basically said he suspected more tech had been stolen and that he didn’t want to regret giving this information out to a reporter-- Jason decided to not immediately share it with Chiron or anyone at the DEO. Instead he sent back a carefully worded email asking to talk with him about it, and oh yeah, if he could bring along Annabeth, the reporter who had done some pretty scathing articles on his father.

This could turn out to be a complete disaster, but he had to at least try to show Annabeth that di Angelo wasn’t the villain she was trying to make him out to be; or at least had no signs of being.

It took almost four and a half hours for him to get a response. The contents of which were a single line agreeing to his proposal. Only then did he inform the others of the situation.

“This is probably some sort of trick.” Annabeth said on their way to the building. “What if he’s the one ordering the weapons to be stolen so he looks innocent?”

“He wouldn’t do that. He’s not what you think.”

“I think I’ll be the judge of that. Besides you’ve only known him for a few weeks and spoken to him a handful of times, how well do you really know him?”

Jason sighed exasperatedly. He really didn’t want to get into an argument, especially not when they were about to enter the building.

The process at the front desk was quick and soon enough they were on the elevator for the long ride up. Jason adjusted his glasses and Annabeth tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before curling her fingers back around her bag strap; her knuckles turning white.

The doors dinged and Annabeth strolled between them before they had even fully opened. After a brief interaction with the receptionist she walked them through to the office.

Di Angelo sat at his desk, his fingers tapping on the surface. He stood when they entered and asked the receptionist to close the door on her way out. For a few moments they all just stood there awkwardly. Finally di Angelo sighed.

“Lets just get this over with,” he said and gestured to the chairs as he sat back down.

They both made their way over and took a seat, Annabeth dropping her bag beside her in the process.

“So,” Annabeth began, “Jason tells me that you think your weapons are being stolen.”

“Yes.”

“If that’s true, why tell us? Why not keep it a secret and try to take care of it yourself?”

“I can take care of it myself,” di Angelo said sitting up a bit straighter. “But I thought I should tell you so if another attack happens before I can resolve the matter it won’t come as a surprise.” He was looking at Jason now.

“...I’ve already let him know.” Jason told him. Annabeth looked over at him confused. “Superman.” He clarified.

“Right. Of course, I forgot.”

“Whoever it is,” di Angelo continued, “must be working for someone who knows what they’re doing, because they’re getting better very quickly at going unnoticed. I’ve been doing inventory at least twice a week now. I planted a dummy item listed as high priority, security tags and everything, to see what would happen. Usually if something like that is even nudged I know about it, but when inventory was taken the other night, that and a couple other items were missing.”

“Sounds very convenient.” Annabeth said.

Di Angelo’s jaw clenched. “I’m well aware of how this looks. I’m just giving you the facts I have Ms. Chase.”

“If this got out it would look really bad.” Jason said.

“It would. I didn’t tell you all of this so you could make a story out of it.” He said glancing at Jason and looking warily at Annabeth.

“You did it because you want it to be a story after it’s _taken care of_ , to make you look like the good guy.”

“No, because it’s the right thing to do. I know I can’t control what people think of me, especially _your_ opinion of me, but I can control what I do.”

“I guess we’ll all just have to see what it is you do then.” Annabeth picked up her bag and stood. “Have a nice day.”

Jason let out a breath as she left, he could easily catch up with her in a bit.

“She means well,” Jason tried, but it didn’t quite sound right for the situation. “She’s stubborn, once she thinks she right it’s hard for her to let go of it. Usually it’s an admirable quality, because it means she doesn’t stop until the job is done.”

“This meeting was a terrible idea.”

“For what it’s worth, I believe you. And if I’m wrong, well, we know where to find you.” He said trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to have worked, the tension in di Angelo’s shoulders loosened and he huffed something vaguely close to a laugh.

He got additional information on the items before leaving. It took some genuine effort to catch up to Annabeth; but when he finally did they walked side by side in silence back to Jason’s apartment.

She tossed her bag onto the table when they entered and when the door shut she spun around.

“You told him you ‘know’ Superman?” Forget beating around the bush, she was burning it, with her laser vision. “Are you insane?!”

“Annabeth--”

“No, I know you want to see the best in everyone, but you are far too trusting!”

“It’s not the same as before.”

“Of course not, he’s a di Angelo, it’s worse.”

“He’s not Hades.”

“I know that. He’s his son. Hades learned this stuff on his own, di Angelo grew up in it, was _taught_ by him, and you don’t see the threat in that?”

“I just don’t think he has done anything so far that’s warranted this type of prosecution. Simply existing is not a reason.”

“Maybe not, but….” The fight seemed to drain out of her.

Before she could say anymore her phone rang. She dug it out of her bag and fixed her glasses as she looked at the caller ID.

“It’s Percy, I gotta...”

“It’s alright, go.” He tried to smile but could tell it looked strained.

As she stepped into the hall to answer, Jason walked over and collapsed onto the couch. He let out a big sigh, and rubbed a hand up his face, pushing his glasses into his hair.

What a day.

 

The next day he talked to Chiron about what di Angelo had told him. He had also asked him to not make it a big deal; he didn’t want the information to get out and scare di Angelo away. The only reason Chiron agreed was because Jason had found out more than the undercover agents that were supposed to be keeping track of him, and also because di Angelo had told him directly of his own free will.

He tried to concentrate on his work, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the argument. Jason hated fighting with people he cared about, it was more exhausting than a physical fight any day. So on his lunch break he took a walk through the park to try and clear his head. It was always a nice place to go for him to just get away for a while, to think.

“Hey.” Annabeth stood in front of him.

“Hey.”

“Thalia said you come here sometimes.” She bit her lip and shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. “I’m going back to Metropolis.”

“You don’t have to go, I didn’t mean to--”

“No I know.” She looked around at the people walking around them and gestured to a nearby bench. They both took a seat. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I thought about what you said and thought about what I said. This city doesn’t need two superheroes, you’re doing a great job on your own. And you’re a good judge of character. I just-- I hope you’re right about him. You always try to see the best in everyone, but one day that could get you hurt.”

“You try to see the best in everyone too, and I’m being careful, I promise. It’s not like I trust him with my life or anything, I’m just being friendly and keeping promises I make.”

“Which is why you’re perfect for this. I’m too close to the matter.” She got to her feet and gave him a small smile. “So, I’m going to go home, have a nice romantic date with my boyfriend, and stop a few bad guys along the way, while you get to stay here and deal with this.”

Jason stood and pulled her into a hug. “You need to visit more often.”

He let her go and she tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

“I will, but maybe after this whole thing boils over, whatever it is anyway. Me helping you fight isn’t a visit though.”

“Of course not. I still need to meet Percy.” She rolled her eyes at that, but had a smile on her face. “Oh, I should show you my favorite restaurant for when you guys come.”

Annabeth laughed lightly at his enthusiasm and followed him as he led the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's commented and left kudos on this story so far! All of it has really helped me stay motivated and excited to write this thing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shows up nearly 4 months late with a new update.....oops
> 
> as always a big thanks to my beta [brightlightbandit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit) for being patient with me and an overall a great person!!

Strange, was one word for it.

Since their last meeting Jason and di Angelo had been in more frequent contact-- frequent as in emailing at least twice a week. Di Angelo still didn’t know who was behind the assassination attempts or the theft, but he didn’t think they were connected. Jason once asked why exactly di Angelo was giving him this information. His response was short and clipped, saying that so far Jason hadn’t published any information that he hadn’t explicitly said he could, and also Jason was the only one who knew about the attacks made against him. Everyone needed someone to talk to, Jason supposed.

He didn’t mind being that person either, but since Annabeth’s visit he truly realized how careful he had to be with his words. He had grown so accustomed to nearly everyone he talked to on a regular basis knowing about his superhero identity, that when he made slip-ups around people who didn’t know, it didn’t matter as much because he likely wouldn’t see them again.

Annabeth was right, he was a bit of an idiot.

But there wasn’t much he could do about it now, and honestly he was tired of thinking about what he could have done differently.

Jason leaned back in his chair and sighed, his phone beeped just as he got comfortable. It was a message from Thalia, listing a location and the codeword for robbery. Usually they left simple car chases and theft to the local authorities when Jason was working his ‘day job’; but this incident must be serious.

Thalia explained the situation while Jason made his way to the scene so he would be prepared.

The small group of culprits had exited the bank by the time Jason arrived. Supposedly they were armed with ‘mysterious’ weapons, which were most likely stolen di Angelo tech.

Jason touched down in front of them made a quip about banking before he recognized them. For the past five days these guys had hit similar establishments, they had eluded the authorities every time. But this time they were being much bolder, this time they were stupid enough to rob a bank in broad daylight. They didn’t even look afraid, their arrogance came with the weapons.

Jason found that arrogance often led to stupid mistakes.

One of them jutted his chin to the others, who had the bags of money, motioning for them to go. They only hesitated a moment before scattering.

Jason made to go after one and was already planning on how to get the others after he did.

“Not so fast Superman!” The leader yelled. Jason glanced back, the man had an ugly smile on his face as he fired the weapon.

The choice was clear: go after the thieves or stop the green ray blast, which was currently headed toward the hospital. Jason flew after it.

It all happened so fast. He barely managed to get in front of it in time before he was being thrown back. He curled his body around it to prevent it from doing any further damage; he could already feel himself crashing through several walls. It felt like a giant balloon filled with stabbing cold ice had popped.

When he was sure the ray was gone and he had stopped moving he rolled over onto his back. He didn’t think he had been injured like last time, but still everything hurt and he felt like he was frozen to the core.

For a while he just laid there on the hospital floor, papers fluttered around him and the lights flickered. He could hear the doctors and nurses rushing to check on their patients, a few even crowded around him to see if he was alright; but they still kept their distance.

He groaned as he rolled over to get up, he almost didn’t see the hand offering to help. He looked up at the young nurse as he took thier hand and thanked them once he was standing.

Jason turned to look at the giant hole in the walls, that was minimal damage from these weapons. What would they be capable of without Jason’s body as a buffer?

 

Jason still felt the remnants from the blast well into the next day. He wasn’t as cold as he had been but every so often he had to repress a shiver.

Currently he was visiting Piper a couple floors above where he worked. Her new role as head of CatCo suited her well; it wasn’t easy to take over after Ms. Grant left, which had left behind some big shoes to fill-- which meant that Piper was busier than ever.

But finally things had calmed down enough that she could have a simple lunch date with her friend. As they ate she told him about the challenges and excitement of the new position. Jason remembered when Ms. Grant had suggested Piper be the one to take over, Piper had been hesitant to take it, but now she looked like she was really happy.

“And I know that a lot of people only think of us as a fashion or gossip publication,” she said. “But we’re becoming so much more than that, we can really make a difference.”

“It sounds like you already have.”

“Well, not all heroes wear capes.” She said taking a bite of her salad and giving him a knowing look.

“Mr. Grace,” a voice said behind him. Jason turned to see di Angelo walking toward him.

“Mr. di Angelo,” Jason stood to meet him. “What are you doing here? Did I forget a meeting or--”

“No, no, this is a personal visit actually.”

“Oh.”

“Did I interrupt your lunch?” He asked as he noticed Piper behind Jason.

“Not at all,” Piper said holding out a hand for him to shake, which he did after a moment of hesitation. “I’m Piper McLean.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Um, congratulations on your new position.”

“Same to you.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but she left it at that.

Awkward tension started to fill the air. “So what brings you to CatCo?” Jason asked before it could get worse.

“I’m hosting a gala this weekend,” he said, “a fundraiser for the hospital that was damaged yesterday.”

“You don’t seem like the party type,” Piper said. “No offense.”

“I’m not, to be honest. But it’s the least I can do since it was my stolen technology that caused the damage.”

“A lot of people would argue that was Superman’s fault.”

Jason shot Piper a look, it seemed to go unnoticed by di Angelo.

“The damage would have been a lot worse had he not been there.”

Piper hummed at the response and di Angelo turned his attention back to Jason.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you would come. You’re pretty much the closest thing I have to a friend in this entire city. It would be nice to have support.”

“I--of course, I’ll be there.”

Di Angelo glanced back over to Piper. “You’re invited as well, if you want to come.”

“I’ll be there.” She glanced down at her watch, reluctantly noticing the time. “I should get back to work. It was nice meeting you.”

Piper packed up her trash and was gone, leaving them standing there.

“I should get going as well,” di Angelo said.

“I’ll walk you out.” Jason offered, di Angelo looked like he was going to protest. “I’m headed that way anyway, just give me a sec to clean up?”

The elevator ride down was awkward but not as unconfrontable as expected.

“Thank you for walking me down Mr. Grace,” di Angelo said when the doors dinged open.

“Jason.”

Di Angelo’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“If we’re going to be friends we can’t keep calling each other by our last names. It’s a bit weird, don’t you think?”

He actually seemed to think about it before he said, “I suppose it is.” He stepped out of the elevator and turned around to face him again. “Thank you for walking me down, Jason.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you around, Nico.” The corner of his mouth twitched.

The doors slid shut between them.

 

The next day Nico had contacted Jason again, this time asking for a favor: a meeting with Superman.

Currently Jason was hovering out of sight near di Angelo Inc. wondering what he wanted. A month ago he might have suspected it was a trap, but now the thought hardly crossed his mind. He set himself down gracefully on the balcony outside di Angelo’s office. The door was open like the last time he’d been here, but unlike last time there were still a few lights left on.

Nico turned in his seat upon hearing him land.

“You came.”

“You wanted to see me?” Jason said as he made his way into the office. Nico stood and followed him around the desk.

“I assume Jason’s told you about the gala I’m hosting this weekend.”

“He mentioned it.”

“I wanted to invite you as well.”

Jason turned to face him. “This fundraiser is a bad idea, it’s definitely going to be a target for this gang; you’re practically painting a target on your back as well as everyone else that will be there.”

“That’s why you’ll be there, to protect them.”

“So you’d put yourself at risk? And for what?”

Nico dropped his gaze to the floor briefly, as though he were putting his words together. When he looked back up his eyes held something that Jason couldn’t quite place.

“I’ve spent too long in the shadows,” he said, “whether it was of my own volition or by my father’s hand, I’m done hiding. I’m trying to clean up my father’s mess and take responsibility. This is how I choose to do it and I’m asking for your help.”

Jason sighed and thought it over for a bit before reluctantly saying, “Okay.”

“Thank you. I’ll have Jason give you the details.”

Right. Both Jason and Superman were supposed to be there. At the same time.

Crap.

 

The event had already started by the time they arrived (they being, Jason and Piper, with Leo in tow).

“You’re sure that your device works?” Jason asked.

“Of course I’m sure!” Leo said. “Have I ever been wrong before?”

Jason and Piper both gave him a look.

“Okay, fair point,” Leo amended. “But I know it will work. It should let us know if there are any ‘super’ weapons within a hundred feet….give or take.”

The weather was still warm enough for the venue to mostly be held outside. Lights were strung along the walls, a few pictures of what one could assume were people from the hospital were on stands, and there were table scattered here and there for mingling.

“I have to admit, I’m impressed,” Piper said, “di Angelo knows how to throw a party.”

“Yeah, I definitely didn’t expect this many people to show up.” Leo looked around and said more quietly, “I wonder how many people are from the black market.”

“Why would they be from the black market?” Piper whispered back.

“Obviously di Angelo is using his father’s contacts, there’s no way he knows this many people on his own.”

“...You really think that people from the black market would donate to a hospital?”

“They have to get their illegal organs from somewhere right?” They were both smiling now. “I’ve done it. I’ve uncovered the mystery of what di Angelo Inc. is really hiding!”

“Guys.” Jason said, he was giving them a look that clearly said _knock it off_.

“Party pooper.”

“We’re just kidding, Jason.”

“I know, I just--there’s Nico.” Jason said once he spotted him through the crowd. Leo and Piper followed his gaze.

“Right! Commencing Operation: Parent Trap.” Leo said before walking away.

“Did we really have to call it that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Just let him have his fun.” Piper said as she looped her arm through Jason’s.

Jason looked at her quizzically, but she just shrugged. If she wasn’t going to make it weird he wasn’t either.

They made their way over to Nico and Jason called out his name before realizing that he was speaking with someone else. When Nico turned around he didn’t seem upset that he’d been interrupted.

Jason almost missed the quick glance down at his and Piper’s intertwined arms.

“Jason. Ms. McLean.” He greeted. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“It’s a lovely party.” Piper said.

“Thank you.” He said with a small smile before looking back to Jason. “Um, have you seen Superman anywhere?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s on his way.”

Just then Leo appeared with a drink, practically running over Nico.

While he was apologizing and making sure he didn’t get anything on Nico’s suit Jason rushed away, changed, and was back in a matter of seconds. Landing right in front of them.

There were awes and gasps from the crowd around them.

“Superman, you made it.”

“I still think this might be a bad idea.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see won’t we.”

“I guess so. I’ll check the perimeter, and be back at the first sign of trouble.”

Jason turned and took off, knowing that people were watching him. People were still looking up at the sky when Jason returned back as a civilian.

Briefly Jason thought that Annabeth would be proud.

 

Over the course of the evening Jason mingled with the other guests but didn’t have much opportunity to speak with Nico again. That is until he saw him off to the side seeming like he was trying to blend into the wall.

After grabbing himself and Nico a drink he made his way over. They nodded to each other in a silent greeting. Nico raised an eyebrow and looked at the offered drink skeptically.

“Very presumptuous of you. You don’t even know if I like that kind of drink.”

“True, but I figured since you’re not really a people person and hosting this party you’re probably going to actually serve a drink you like.” He offered the drink again and this time Nico took it.

“Lucky guess.”

“That, or I just saw you drinking the same thing earlier.”

Nico scoffed but he had a small smile behind the rim of the glass. It wasn’t like the smile he’d given Piper earlier or the ones that were shown on TV or pictures.

“Your girlfriend seems...friendly.” Nico said after a bit, Jason nearly choked on his drink.

“W-what?”

Nico nodded over to where Piper was talking to a small group of people. Men and women alike were enthralled by her--and honestly how could they not be--which she was using to her advantage, networking and making connections were important in her line of work after all.

It took a second for Jason to realize what Nico had actually said.

“Oh! Oh no, she's not-I mean-we're not. She's not my girlfriend.”

“Oh. Sorry for assuming.”

“No, it’s fine. I mean maybe in another life, but we just sort of missed our chance.”

“Ah, I can relate.”

“Oh?”

Nico hesitated for a minute before elaborating.

“There was this one guy in Italy, but there were reasons that got in the way.” Nico glanced at Jason quickly before looking away. Nico gripped his glass a bit tighter and leaned slightly away from Jason, a motion that was barely noticeable if you weren’t paying attention. “I seem to keep giving you information that you could very well blackmail me with.”

“I haven’t let you down so far have I?”

“No,” Nico said seriously. “You haven’t.”

Jason took another drink from his glass. “It’d be kind of hypocritical for me to use that information against you anyway.” He said as he leaned back against the wall.

Nico’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened before narrowing slightly. “So you’re…?”

“Both. I like both.”

“I suppose using that information would make you a hypocrite then.” After a moment Nico continued. “But even if you were, I’m not hiding it….haven’t for years at least. I just don’t go around shouting it from the rooftops.”

“But you envy those that do?” Jason guessed.

Nico stared at his glass as he swirled his drink. “Who wouldn’t? They have the luxury to be open about who they are without the entire city watching their every move.” He looked back at Jason. “I mean I know it’s still not completely safe for anyone to be--”

“No, no, I know what you meant.”

 _I can relate_ Jason thought. He finished his drink and set the glass on a nearby table.

 

Eventually Nico worked himself up to rejoin the crowd.

Jason checked in with Leo, there was still no signs of any super weapons nearby. It should have been good news but it only made Jason worry more. It didn’t make sense, this party was a perfect target.

“Dance with me.” Piper said off to the side. “You worry too much.”

Jason sighed as he accepted Piper’s hand and followed her to the dance floor. “I just don’t get it. I thought for sure that they would be here.”

“Isn’t it a good thing they’re not?”

Jason shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“So,” Piper said after a few minutes. “What were you talking with di Angelo about?”

“What?”

“I saw you two earlier, it was like no one else existed.”

“It’s not like that. We’re just friends.”

“Really?” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Really.”

One minute the band was playing and the next tables were exploding and people were screaming.

They were finally here. Jason ran off as the gang leader was making his demands about handing over valuables.

Jason hovered in the air after he’d changed and watched the leader move on from Nico, who looked like he had confronted them, and to the other guests.

“You really thought I wouldn’t be here?” He called out.

“I was counting on it actually.” The leader said as he turned. The weapon was already charged up, ready to fire. Jason counteracted the blast with his laser vision.

Another member shot him from behind. Jason crashed onto the ground, making a significant dent in the pavement. Jason shook it off as he stood and then dashed back into the air.

Guests were now running in every direction, making it a bit harder for Jason to hit the gang members, also making it hard to keep track of any one of them for very long.

As he was searching for them through the crowd he saw Piper in front of one of the gang members, picking herself up off the ground and standing defiantly in front of a couple of guests. He barely got there in time to shield her from the blast, which threw both of them back.

The leader approached them again.

“Goodnight, Superman.” The leader said before firing. Jason’s only defense was his laser vision, which could take on the blast from one gun; but when the others joined in, it was only a matter of time.

A pulse rippled through the air. The gang’s weapons were yanked out of their hands and flew into the air before exploding. Everyone stood in stunned silence for a few moments before Nico and Leo appeared crawling out from under a long table. When he caught Jason’s confused stare he started stammering.

“Oh, no-we weren’t- it’s not--” he paused. “We stopped it.” Leo snapped his fingers and finger gunned.

Piper and Jason looked at each other smiling, and ever so grateful for Leo Valdez.

 

After making sure all the guests were okay and they had their valuables returned to them people started to go home. Leo told Jason what actually happened under the table. Nico had hidden a device that would disable the weapons. The whole gala had been a trap for the gang.

“So your plan worked.” Jason said as he caught up with Nico.

Nico looked at him like he was unsure of what Superman thought of it. “It did.”

“You took a big risk. Why didn’t you just tell me in the first place what you were up to?”

“Would you have believed me? Not many people turn to di Angelos to see justice done.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to stop them without you. Thank you.”

Nico looked slightly surprised at the thanks. “You shouldn’t thank me. I mean afterall it was my father’s--”

“You’ve proven you’re not your father, or at the very least have given strong evidence. Perhaps we can work together again in the future.”

“Perhaps.” Nico glanced around, like he was trying to find someone. “Um, you haven’t seen Jason have you? I haven’t seen him since before the fight.”

“He’s fine, he, uh, he already went home.”

“Oh.” Nico actually looked disappointed. “Well as long as he’s safe.”

Jason didn’t quite know what to do with that.

“Yeah, he’s fine.”

“I should probably get back, make sure the rest of the guests have cleared out.”

“Right. I should get going as well. Until next time.”

He took off and Jason couldn’t shake that feeling the entire flight home, not even when he got ready for bed. It wasn’t until the next day as he was getting ready for work that he remembered his conversation with Piper and he nearly dropped the coffee pot.

“Oh no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Comments are always, always appreciated and help keep me motivated, plus i love seeing how you guys are enjoying the story


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, ya, I guess by this point you should probably stop expecting a consistent schedule from me. But know that I am going to finish this story! Just look at that nifty new chapter counter! We're almost halfway through guys!   
> I'll admit this chapter is kind of a filler and not really my best, and if I tried to fix it anymore then it would never get published, it's one of the reasons it took me soooo long to finish.
> 
> Once again a big thanks to my beta [brightlightbandit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit)

Food was practically overflowing on the large dining table, and there were still pizzas on the way. It was far more than any two people could possibly eat in one sitting. 

Thalia stared down at the table excitedly and said, “We’re going to get so fat.”

She turned to Jason who had already stuffed a couple potstickers in his mouth. He coughed at being caught and hurried to finish them to hide the evidence. 

“Or at least one of us is, not everyone has a superhuman metabolism.”

Jason returned the look she was giving him. “I’m going to go set up the movie.”

It had been a while since they’d had a real siblings night. A tradition that began when Thalia started college; Once a month they would watch old silent films and B-rated movies, and eat tons of unhealthy food, but mostly they used the time to talk and catch up. It was probably one of the main reasons they were still as close as they were.

Thalia brought over some of the chinese takeout that they’d both been sneaking bits of and handed a carton to Jason. Just as she sat down there was a knock at the door.

“Fucking really?” 

Jason snorted, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked through the door. “It’s the pizza guy.”

“Great! Money’s on the table.” Thalia smiled at him. Jason tossed a pillow in her face as he got up. 

Jason grabbed the money off the table and opened the door. If the pizza guy noticed the table already covered in food he said nothing, likely thinking it was for a party or something.

“Did you really have to order four pizzas?” Jason asked as he shut the door. 

“Who are we if we don’t have options?”

“I’m going to be eating leftovers for days.”

It took a bit of maneuvering but Jason finally found a place to put the boxes with the rest of the food in the kitchen. This was a crucial part to not getting sick from overeating on siblings night; if you couldn’t get up to get food then you shouldn’t have anymore. It worked at least seventy-five percent of the time.

Jason grabbed drinks out of the fridge on his way back over. Once he got comfortable on the couch he started up the first movie. 1927’s  _ Metropolis _ . They had both seen it plenty of times but their commentary never got old. But every time it was also still annoying that Freder and Josaphat didn’t kiss, because they were in love damn it! Maria who?

They had eaten nearly all the chinese takeout before the movie had ended and now various other half-eaten takeout containers where on the coffee table. Another crucial rule, always pace yourself. With no food being eaten and nothing currently on screen to comment on, suffice to say the next movie wasn’t quite as fun. 

“So.” Thalia said. 

Jason glanced over at her. Her arm was on the back of the couch with her head resting in her hand still staring at the screen. “So.”

“You never did tell me what all happened at the gala.”

“There’s nothing to tell. You read the report.”

“I did.” She was looking at him expectantly. 

Jason sighed. He knew she’d figure it out one way or another, might as well just come clean. 

Where was he even supposed to start? There was still so much unknown about Nico, perhaps that was even part of the appeal. So he started from the beginning. 

When he finished Thalia was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, and partially covering her mouth with her fingers as it still rested in her hand. Jason might have went off on a small tangent about Nico’s eyes and that smile that he'd tried to hide behind the rim of his glass; not to mention his dry wit that made rare appearances.

“I don't know what to do.” 

“It’s not what you want to hear, but that’s something you have to figure out for yourself, baby bro. I’ve learned not to meddle in people’s love lives.”

Jason nearly jumped off the couch. “It’s not love!”

“Look,” Thalia said, moving to look at him properly. “You like him. Sure he’s the son of a famous supervillain and your cousin’s worst enemy--”

“You’re not helping.” Jason groaned.

“But, he’s shown he’s not like his father. Unless he’s playing a really long game, but to be honest I don’t think he is. He seems like he’s a good guy, a bit standoffish, but not evil.”

“I know.” Jason sighed and stared down at his hands. Maybe he was thinking too much into this. Sure Nico was attractive, he could clearly see it the first time he’d met him. But just because someone was attractive didn’t mean that Jason was attracted to them. If Piper hadn’t said anything then he might not have noticed, or at least not until much later. 

But that was the thing now. 

He noticed. Something you can’t unsee. Something you can’t stop thinking about; like when you realize you’re blinking or breathing.

Jason did find Nico attractive, this much he could admit to himself. But getting real feelings involved? They had just started considering each other as friends, this was a whole other ballgame. Theoretically he could see himself in a relationship with Nico, but Jason wasn’t sure if that’s what he really wanted, or if it were something that could even work.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Jason said, wanting to change the subject. “How are things with Reyna?”

“....It’s good. Really good.” Thalia looked off to the side. “I mean it’s hard to get a proper date night with our conflicting schedules. But we’re making it work.”

Jason felt like there was something Thalia wasn’t telling him, but he decided to leave it for now.

They got through two and a half more movies and at least a third of the food before Thalia’s phone chimed. 

 

Siblings night had to once again be put on hold for a mission; this time it was for an escaped alien prisoner.

People were scattering in the streets by the time they arrived. 

And someone was already fighting the alien. They were covered head to toe in black, no distinguishable features visible except for a small slit in their mask for their eyes.

“That’s not one of our agents.” Thalia said.

They seemed to be holding their own fairly well. Making strategic jabs at the alien and blocking with their shield. That is until their shield gave off a small spark, the alien swiped it’s arm at them and the mysterious figure went flying. 

Jason had fought this alien before, which meant he knew he couldn't take it on his own; or well he theoretically  _ could _ , but not without mass destruction to the surrounding area.

“I’ll hold it off until reinforcements get here.” He told Thalia. Jason didn’t wait a second before stepping in.

The alien turned and growled at his approach. With it’s full attention now on Jason, Thalia rushed to help a few citizens who were taking cover nearby. Jason charged forward, and slammed himself into the alien’s middle which sent it back several feet. It’s large size causing it to crash into the ground with a heavy thud. Jason crept forward as the dust from the destroyed concrete settled. 

A large hand wrapped around Jason’s throat and lifted him off the ground. The alien rose out of the dust and held Jason high in the air, cutting off his air supply. He grasped at the hand trying to pry it away, but it didn’t budge. 

The alien jerked to the side suddenly. It’s grasp loosened ever so slightly, but it was enough for Jason to get free. 

The mysterious figure was back, apparently they had fixed whatever was wrong with their shield. They gave him a quick nod before turning their attention back to the alien. 

The alien quickly regained its footing and roared at them. 

Jason and the stranger stood side by side ready for the alien’s next attack. The DEO should be showing up any minute now, they just had to hold it off for a bit longer. 

The alien charged and they both advanced forward to meet it. 

It was quickly clear the stranger didn’t have any powers of their own from the way they relied on the shield. Surprisingly, they didn’t get in each other's way. It were as though the stranger knew how Jason fought. The thought that someone had been watching him long enough to know his fighting style left an unsettled feeling in his stomach. 

Jason nearly missed the small red light as it shot through the air and attached itself to the alien. Wires of red light wrapped around the alien as it tried to detach the device. As it struggled the wires only tightened and eventually caused the alien to lose its footing and fall to the ground, now unable to move.

The agents had finally arrived. 

Now that the threat had been taken care of Jason turned his attention fully to the mysterious figure, who pulled their bike out from a nearby alleyway and was preparing to leave.

“Who are you?” Jason asked as they got on. They turned their head to look back at him. From the slit in the mask Jason could see their eyes glistening in the moonlight, but it was too dark to fully identify them. 

“A friend.”

With that, they drove away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who's behind the mask???? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 
> 
> Up next: A prison break and a secret gets revealed


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you're surprised to see me this early after just posting a chapter! I'm surprised at myself too! 
> 
> I was really excited to write this chapter cause now we're actually getting into the real meat of the story, and apparently that's great motivation for writing.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks again to my beta [brightlightbandit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile), for your continuous support

This far out from the city one could sit in peaceful silence and enjoy the cool breeze of the night as you counted the stars from the clear sky above. 

It was the perfect night for a getaway. 

The prison truck sped along the narrow road, leaving a trail of thin dust behind it. The police were too far behind to even have a hope of keeping up, but Superman was hot on the trial. 

Jason kept enough distance away to keep an eye on the car and also to remain unseen. 

There were three men in the truck, four if you count the driver. But the only one that mattered was sitting in the back: Hades. 

Jason flew a bit faster to land a few meters in front of the truck, it would only take a few seconds for the headlights to reach him. When the bright lights reached him, Jason didn’t even blink. The truck swerved violently around him, nearly hitting a tree, but continued on it’s way nonetheless. 

The back doors flew open; the first few shots were aimless, just hoping to catch him by surprise.

Jason avoided them easily. He could see that Hades was growing more and more irritated with their incompetence.

“Must I do everything myself?” He could hear Hades say.  

The two men parted as he approached the opening carrying a gun. Jason barely had enough time to dodge before Hades pulled the trigger. 

A beam of orange nearly grazed him, Jason felt himself drop in the air slightly. 

_ Oh no. _

The last time he had faced this, he ended up with a needle in his chest, experiencing a feeling he never wanted to again. At that time they figured the chemical was only in the protype stages, but that had been months ago; with enough determination, it had been plenty of time to reach the final stages. 

Well if he made it out of this alive he could tell Nico where that fake kryptonite went. 

Jason dodged another shot as he flew to the roof of the truck. As he grabbed on the truck swerved from side to side to shake him off. But Jason refused to let go.

Unknowingly below him, inside the truck, Hades had the gun pointed toward the roof. The shot wouldn’t kill Superman, but the blast would still affect him tremendously. 

The truck skidded to a halt as Hades blasted a hole in the roof and Superman went flying. 

He landed hard on the ground. He couldn’t breathe, all the air had been knocked out of him; and he could barely move, gravity felt like a heavy blanket weighing him down. But, he was still conscious, a fact that he was extremely grateful for when he saw that instead of leaving Hades now made his way toward him. 

“So,” Hades said, staring down at him. He still wore his prison jumpsuit, but that didn’t seem to make him any less intimidating. “This is the mighty Superman.”

Jason could only wheeze as he struggled to draw air back into his lungs. Hades crouched down in front of him. 

“The ‘Hero of National City’.” Hades’ eyes seemed to harden. “You’re only a child.” 

The hand that still held the gun twitched ever so slightly, but Jason's attention was immediately drawn to it. Even if it were still a prototype, a shot this close and Jason would be a goner. He could feel his heart beating wildly against his ribcage, and it was much harder to breathe than it was before.

Hades noticed where Jason's attention had been drawn. 

“I'm not going to kill you.” Hades said, sounding just a bit amused. “Not today anyway. I have a list of higher priorities, and you're not on it.”

He stood then and brushed the dirt off his jumpsuit, as though it were an immaculate suit. 

He started walking back toward the truck, only bothering to turn his head as he said bitterly, “Oh, and give my son my thanks.”

“What-” Jason gasped, finally having enough air to speak. The blanket was beginning to lose its weight as well. “What does that even mean?”

Hades stopped in his tracks. It took him a few seconds to turn around. 

“It means you should stay out of our family business. He shouldn't be associating himself with the likes of you. Especially after everything your  _ kind _ has done to my family. Count yourself lucky I don't shoot you where you lay.” Hades voice was like acid. “You all think of me as a villain, and while that may be true now, it wasn't always.”

He turned back toward the truck where the other two men had gotten out and were waiting for him.

“Let’s go.” Hades told them. 

One of them stepped forward, looking a bit hesitant. “Sir, what about him?” 

Hades didn’t even spare another look back as he continued forward.

“Leave him.”

“But boss--” The other man tried, he flinched back at the look Hades must be giving him.

“We’re wasting time. He’s not our priority right now.”

The doors of the truck slammed shut after they all piled back in. 

Jason desperately tried to push himself up, to go after them as they drove away; but his limbs still felt like lead.

“--ason? You….--ere?”

Jason looked to the side where the crackling sound was coming from. His earpiece must have fallen out when he landed, and was now covered in dirt and leaves; easily concealed.

Slowly he reached out for it. 

“...Thalia.”

Jason could almost hear her sigh of relief on the other end. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“He got away...he got away. I couldn’t stop him.” 

“Are you okay?” Thalia asked again. “When you--when we lost contact--”

“I’m okay, at least I think I am.”

Or at the very least he would be. Jason managed to pull an arm under himself to push himself up. There was a tree nearby that he could lean back against, once he got situated he told Thalia what had happened. 

She told him they were about forty-five minutes out. So Jason waited, either for the effects to wear off or for the other agents to arrive, whichever came first. 

 

The agents arrived first. By that point Jason had managed to stand, but still needed the tree to stay upright. 

When they got back to the DEO headquarters Jason was taken to the med area to get checked out. The fact that he was only experiencing the second-hand shot from the fake kryptonite meant that the effects would wear off fully in a couple hours. 

Thalia came in just as the doctor left. She didn’t even give Jason a chance to say anything as she marched over and wrapped her arms around him.

“You gotta stop doing this to me.” She said when she let him go, fixing him with a half serious look, but Jason wasn’t looking at her.

“He got away.”

“Jason--”

“I could--I should have stopped him! It only took one shot to knock me down!”

“It was krypto--” Thalia tried to reassure him, but he didn’t seem to hear her. 

“He had me exactly where he wanted me. It would have been so  _ easy _ for him to--” Thalia placed a hand on his shoulder, and finally Jason looked up at her. 

“I was….”

“Scared?” She finished for him. 

When he gave a short nod Thalia hopped up next to him on the bed. 

“I’ve never face a villain that could  _ actually _ really hurt me before. And now we know he has the fake kryptonite, there's no telling what other kind of weapons he has that he can use against me.” Jason's hands curled into fists where they rested on his knees. “I hate feeling so helpless.”

Before she could say anything there was a knock at the door. Chiron entered a few seconds later. 

“Hope I'm not interrupting.” He said stepping further into the room. “I just wanted to come by and see how you were.”

“I'm fine.” Jason told him. “It wasn't as bad as last time.”

He nodded slightly as if to say, that's good. “I hear that Hades has acquired the chemical involved in that encounter.”

“It's only a mimic of kryptonite,” Thalia said. “We've been studying the sample we got from Jason’s blood and information di Angelo gave him. We're hoping that since it's not the real thing there might be a way to counteract the effects.”

“You trust this information you got from him?” He asked it in a way that required a simple answer; the same way he would ask a question on a mission. 

“I do.” Jason said and Chiron nodded again, like that would be the end of it. But Jason could feel in his gut it wasn't. 

“Well hopefully it will help in any future encounters then.” He said. “Speaking of which, did you happen to hear anything about where Hades might be headed?”

“No. But he's got something planned. He talked about a list of priorities; said I wasn't on it, that's why I'm sitting here right now.” 

“Any leads on how exactly he got out?” Thalia asked. 

Chiron glanced over at Jason before speaking. “Nothing concrete, but we have a few ideas.”

_ Ah there it was. _

“We know he had to have gotten help, both from inside the prison and out.”

“What are you saying?” Jason knew exactly what he was saying.

“Did you know di Angelo has been to see Hades at least three times since his imprisonment?”

“That doesn’t mean he helped him escape.”

“And that may be true, but in this case we have to look at all possible suspects.”

“Has anyone even contacted Supergirl about all this?”

“We’ve been trying to reach her, but I’ve been told she’s currently off world on another mission. Right now this is up to us.”

Jason got up, the effects had worn off enough by now that he could walk without assistance, and made his way to the door. 

“Where are you going?”

“Home. It’s been a long night.”

 

A statement about Hades’ escape aired the next morning. 

It didn’t matter that Nico didn’t associate with his father’s people. It didn’t matter that he was doing his best to turn his company a different direction. People still saw him as the obvious suspect. 

Jason hadn’t seen Nico since the gala, which was now a little over a month ago, but they had kept up with emailing each other. So it wouldn’t have been a huge surprise for Jason to drop by his office unannounced. 

Only today reporters littered the street in front of Nico’s building, security doing their best to keep them out. Not wanting to cause a commotion Jason tried to find another way in. Eventually finding an open second-story window around the back.

He made it up to Nico’s floor virtually unnoticed, not even the receptionist outside of Nico’s office was there.

_ Where is everyone? _ Jason thought as he cautiously opened the door.

Nico was standing at the window, undoubtedly looking down at the reporters below. He startled a bit when he noticed Jason out of the corner of his eye.

“Jason? What are you--how did you get past security?”

“Apparently no ones else thought to look for a back door.” Nico tensed a bit at that. “Don't worry I locked the door behind me.” Jason told him, even though the doors had been locked to begin with. The tension seeped out of Nico’s shoulders and he turned his head to look back out the window. 

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“I thought you could use a friend.” Nico’s head snapped away from the glass and he looked at Jason with an unreadable expression. “Nico, where is everyone?”

He looked to the floor for a moment before making his way over to his desk. “I sent them home after the statement aired. They shouldn't have to deal with this too.”

Now that he was closer Jason could see that his hair stuck up at odd angles, his clothes were wrinkled and unkempt, and there were dark bags under his eyes. 

“When was the last time you slept?”

“Isn't that the question of the day.” He practically collapsed into his chair. Nico seemed more stressed than usual and it was painfully obvious that he hadn't slept last night. The same night his father escaped. 

“You already knew.” Jason said more to himself, thinking out loud. 

“What?”

“You knew Hades had escaped before the statement.”

Nico sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Of course I knew.” 

“How could you have known?”

“I had people in the prison keeping tabs on him for me, to help prevent exactly this from happening.” He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. “It was all for nothing it seems.”

Jason didn't want to add on to his stress but he felt Nico should know regardless. 

“They think you helped him.”

Nico didn't seem too surprised by the statement. In fact he just seemed resigned. 

“And what do you think?”

The doors opened before he could answer. A few officers entered the room, and then--

“Reyna?”

“Jason, what are you doing here?”

“Did you find Hades?”

“No, unfortunately. We're actually here on official business.” She briefly looked at Nico who was glancing between them. “Jason, it would probably be best if you waited outside while I talked with Mr. di Angelo.”

“No.” Nico said. “I want him to stay.”

Reyna looked at Jason for confirmation. 

“I’m staying.” He told her.

Reyna pulled out a tablet. “The police were given some surveillance footage I wanted to ask you about.”

She had the screen turned where both Nico and Jason could see. The time on the screen was just a couple hours before Hades’ escape, it appeared to be in a storage warehouse somewhere. 

After a few seconds Nico appeared on screen. He entered a code into one of the safes and pulled out several vials, some glowing orange, others green, and a gun. 

“This is the weapon that was smuggled in to allow Hades’ escape.” Reyna told Jason.

“That’s not me.” Nico said. “I don’t know where you got that, but it’s not me!”

Reyna ignored him and rounded the table, handcuffs already in hand, reading out the charges. 

“Reyna, wait, there has to be some sort of explanation.”

“Jason, stay out of it.” She said not completely unkind. Like it was more of a suggestion rather than an order.

“It’s okay, Jason.” Nico said before he was led away, Reyna reading his rights as they walked. 

 

The DEO had access to the video, so Jason spent the next few hours looking at it over and over again, hoping to find something, anything really that would prove this was a mistake.

“It's not going to change no matter how many times you look at it.” Thalia said coming up behind him. “I know it sucks and you don't want to admit it but we were wrong.”

It wasn’t that Jason didn’t want to be wrong about Nico; this whole thing didn’t feel right.

“He didn't even have an alibi, Jason.”

“That doesn't mean he's guilty.”

“No. But the evidence is pretty clear.” She said gesturing to the screen. “You can't let your feelings for him get--”

“There aren't any feelings!” Jason spun around in his chair, Thalia gave him a look. He sighed and looked away. “It's not like that.” He said quietly. 

Thalia crossed her arms and waited for him to elaborate. 

“He's my friend.” Jason said simply. 

Jason had gotten to know Nico better through the emails. He wasn't an open book by any means, but he left pieces of himself scattered through each interaction. He knew Nico cared about his father, but he also knew Nico believed he belonged behind bars. 

Thalia's eyebrows furrowed, she looked sad for him. 

“He got in your head.” She said gently. Thalia was rarely gentle with anything. “I wanted to believe he was good too. I really did.”

“I don't believe he did it. Not without further proof.” Jason got up.

“Where are you going?”

“To get proof.”

 

To the untrained eye Leo’s desk was a mess. But in truth it had a very complex system to the madness; Jason didn't know the system so he usually refrained from touching anything, but he couldn't help noticing the magazine sticking out from a pile. It was a gossip rag for the city. It featured an article about the vigilante Jason had fought beside a few days ago. Carefully he pulled it out.

Apparently they had been in a few more fights before Jason’s and were calling themself ‘Guardian’.

“Jason, hey!” Leo said coming up to him, his expression slipped ever so slightly upon seeing the magazine. 

“Why do you have this?” He asked smiling. 

“Oh, um, I-I have it because of research!” Leo seemed uneasy.

“Research.” Jason echoed.

“Yeah! I mean we don’t know a lot about them, and nobody here seems to be taking the fact that there’s a new hero seriously. Also they seem really cool! Just look at that suit!” Leo said pointing to the blurry picture. “That suit it probably quality made.”

He kept rambling on, a sure sign that he was up to something, but Jason would have to deal with that later.

“Leo!” He said stopping him mid-word.

“What?”

“I need your help.”

“Ah, so the time has finally come. You’ve come to the best for advice.” He smiled smugly.

Jason sighed exasperatedly. “I need you to help me prove Nico’s innocent.”

Leo’s smile fell instantly. “What? You...you have seen the video, right?”

“It’s not enough for me for me to believe he would do something like this.”

“Jason--”

“Prove to me he’s guilty then!”

“Well, he did endanger all those people at his party.”

“That’s why he invited me to protect them!”

“It was still a huge risk to take, any one of them could have seriously been hurt.”

Jason took a step back and sighed. “You’re right, it wasn’t exactly the best plan, but there were good intentions there.”

“I don’t have to tell you what they say about good intentions, do I?”

“Something about this whole thing. It-it doesn’t feel right.”

“.....Like a Super Feeling?”

“Yeah, it’s a Super Feeling.”

Leo sighed. “Your gut has never been wrong before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’ll help you, even if it’s just to prove he’s not innocent so you’ll let this go.”

 

They would start with the surveillance footage first. But Leo would need it from the original source, which meant they needed to get to Nico’s computer.

“But this took place at a storage warehouse, not his office.”

“No, but like any other person who doesn’t have enough time on their hands, he would probably have it all feeding back to one place for convenience. Unless he was hiding something.”

Jason ignored that last remark. “What do I need to do?”

“You need to get me access to that computer.”

Jason floated down onto the edge of the balcony. He leaned out a bit to get a look inside the room. The doors were closed and it appeared to be empty.

The plan was simple. Jason would connect the device Leo had given him to the computer and leave. It would possibly take Leo a few hours to hack through the firewall, but Leo could hack through almost anything, given enough time. Once he’d done that Jason would return and retrieve the device.

Quietly he opened the glass door and slipped inside; this almost felt too easy. After doing a quick scan of the room Jason approached the computer.

It didn’t look as though anything had moved since Nico had been taken away. Papers were still precariously scattered about the desk. Some of them had short strings of numbers, others looked to be inventory sheets. 

Jason knelt down to where the computer tower was fitted into a little cabinet inside the desk. The device Leo had given him looked like a simple USB, so a port was easy enough to find. 

“Okay.” He told Leo through the earpiece. “It’s in.” 

A few seconds later the monitor woke up. A few more seconds later alerts started popping up on screen.

“Uh...Leo?”

“Don’t worry about that,” he assured, not sounding a bit worried, “it’s all part of the procedure.”

Part one done, Jason closed the cabinet and turned off the monitor in case anyone else came into the office, and made his way back out the way he came.

The sun was setting by the time Leo finished. 

Jason slipped back into the office. Just as he pulled the device from the port the office door opened. Panicking Jason hid under the desk. 

“Someone’s here.” He whispered. 

“Okay, don’t do anything stupid.” Leo told him. “This is a stealth mission, the objective is to remain unseen; your bulging muscles don’t exactly double as camouflage.”

“I do  _ not _ have bulging muscles.”

Jason didn’t even hear Leo’s reply as the person walked closer to the desk. Fortunately they stayed on the other side, he could hear them rifling through the papers on the desk. Jason narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked through the desk to see who it was. 

Jason took in a sharp breath; it was one of the men that had been with Hades the night of his escape. He tried to make himself smaller under the desk, hoping that the man wouldn't come to the other side. At least Jason knew he could take him in a fight, if it came to that. 

The man was mumbling something to himself, but even with Jason’s super hearing he couldn't make out what it was. A few papers fluttered to the ground, and the man must have found what he was looking for, as he let out a pleased breath. He didn’t linger with his findings, and the man was gone a quickly as he had arrived. 

Jason let out a relieved sigh and waited a few more seconds to make sure the man wouldn’t return before he left.

 

“It’s fake.” Leo said two days later.

“How is it a fake?” Reyna asked. “We checked the original footage at the warehouse.” 

Reyna had been in a meeting when they'd arrived. When it was done she had took one look at Jason, sighed and ushered them through to her office. 

“The original footage was tampered with.” Jason explained. 

“Whoever did this knew what they were doing, and they're extremely good at it. It took me three hours to even notice.” Leo pulled out his laptop and faced the screen where Reyna could see it clearly and played the video. He had it playing on loop, and after a couple times he asked, “did you see it?”

“What am I supposed to be looking for?”

Leo played the video again, but this time a bit slower. “There!” He said and pointed to the screen. 

Reyna leaned in closer as Leo replayed the moment; there was the  _ slightest _ glitch before ‘Nico’ appeared on screen. “That could just be normal video feedback.”

“Exactly, so that’s why I went digging deeper.” He clicked around and pulled up another video. “That’s when I found this.”

The video showed just outside the warehouse. A man walked toward the entrance and the video feed switched to inside when he got to the door. When the door opened it was ‘Nico’ who entered through. Leo replayed the door opening as Reyna looked closer.

“Wait.”

“You see it now?” When the door was open enough to show his face it was the man standing there, but when the door opened fully, Nico was there. “The disguise glitches a few more times, but it’s really easy to miss.”

“Good work, Valdez.” Reyna clapped Leo on the back and he jerked forward. She looked over at Jason and added, “you too.”

“I didn’t do anything. Leo’s the one who found it all.”

“You didn’t give up on him. I’m glad, I was rooting for the kid.”

 

Leo followed Reyna out, laptop in hand, to show the evidence to her superior; Jason waited out in the lobby. 

Nearly twenty minutes later Leo joined him. 

“Looks like you were right after all. Damn Super Feeling.”

“Thank you for your help.” Jason told him sincerely.

“Yeah well, now you owe me, and I just might ask for your first born.”

Jason let out a small laugh. Leo shook his head.

“They’re doing his release stuff now. Are you going to stick around or….?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll stay.” Leo looked at him as though he were solving a puzzle. “What?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. I’ll see you later.” He walked away, already pulling his phone from his pocket.

With Leo gone, Jason stood nearby a bench and waited, not wanting to sit down just yet. Only a few minutes later an officer ushered Nico out. Nico stopped in his tracks when he saw Jason.

“What are you doing here?” He looked conflicted. “Did you…?”

“It was mostly my friend Leo. We proved the video was a fake.”

Nico scoffed lightly in disbelief as he finally walked forward, and the corner of his mouth threatened to tug up.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Nico joined him over by the elevators, adjusting his jacket over his arms. He looked even more tired than the last time Jason had seen him. His hair was slightly greasy from being unwashed, Nico had pushed it back away from his face and most of it stuck there. 

He’d never seen Nico look more like Hades than in that moment.

“I must admit,” Nico said when the doors shut behind them. “I feel like I should be more surprised you’re here.”

“How so?”

“I was….confused when I saw you. But then it just made sense.” He looked at Jason. “Thank you, for helping me.” He looked back to the elevator door, seeming almost embarrassed. Almost. “I’ve never had a friend like you before.”

Jason didn’t think Nico had very many friends at all. It was understandable considering the environment he grew up in. He had to be careful who he trusted, who he let in. Jason felt incredibly lucky to be allowed these privileges. But as nice as it was, he didn’t want to keep it all to himself. 

He thought about inviting Nico to game night, maybe he could share his friends with Nico. Of course he would have to talk it over with the others first, but even given their hesitations most likely they wouldn’t say no.

“Well, now you do.” Jason said with a smile. “You should probably get used to it.”

 

Jason woke abruptly from a knock at his door. He glanced over at his clock, it was far too early for this. He settled back under his covers, attempting to go back to sleep, but the knocking only became more insistent. 

Reluctantly Jason got up and padded his way over to the front door, looking to see who it was as he went. 

“This better be important.” Jason grumbled to Leo. 

Leo pushed past Jason to get inside. He looked nervous. 

“Okay, so I might have done a bit more snooping around di Angelo’s things than I probably should have.” Jason opened his mouth, but Leo stopped him before he could say anything. “Just hear me out before you say anything.”

Jason sighed. “Fine.” It really was far too early for this.

“This was buried so deep and protected so well that I almost gave up on getting to it.” Leo pulled some papers from his bag, laying some on the table, and remained holding the others. “He’s building some sort of containment facility. The location of it is a bit vague, but whatever,  _ whoever _ , he plans to use this for, he doesn’t want them ever getting out.”

Jason looked over the papers on the table, it seemed to have a protocol for nearly everything. Just looking at the rough numbers Jason didn’t think even he could manage to get out, or in.

“Which brings me to the other thing.”

“There’s more?”

“They were deleted but I still managed to find them.” He handed the remaining papers to Jason. “Still think he doesn’t have something to hide?”

Jason looked over the pictures in his hand. They all featured the same girl with dark skin, curly brown hair, and golden eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're wondering who Leo called as he was leaving here's a summary of how that convo went:
> 
> -Leo immediately calls Piper-  
> L: he? likes?? him??? omg????!  
> P: i know
> 
> Up next: game night and a little heart to heart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow 4 months sure do fly by.....heh heh. but really though, i know that i'm terrible with updating, so thank you all for sticking with me for this long.   
> writers block kicked me out of the story head space, locked the door, and threw a tantrum. 
> 
> as always a big thanks to my beta [brightlightbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile)

Falling asleep that night after Leo left had been hard. 

It didn’t make any sense, why would Nico have these things? What would he possibly need an impenetrable and inescapable containment facility for? Who was the woman? What if it was just left over from when Hades was in charge? Was he planning to kidnap Supergirl? But that still didn’t explain the woman from the pictures. Unless the containment facility had been for the woman. But what would he want with her? And why all the precautions? Even if it had been leftover from Hades, shouldn’t Nico have found it by now and done something about it?

There was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. There had to be. Just because Leo found these two things didn't necessarily mean they were connected.

Jason needed to get to the bottom of this.

 

Leo had let Jason keep his findings, and they were now tucked securely away in Jason’s jacket. The elevator felt slower than usual today as Jason rode up to Nico’s office.

The building had more or less returned to normal after Nico’s release, a few reporters had still lurked outside hoping to get a comment, but all the employees had returned. The receptionist outside Nico’s office actually smiled at him as she let him through.

“Jason,” he stood to greet him. “This is...a surprise.”

“I wanted to see how you were doing.” Jason said as he walked closer.

“Fine, thanks to you. I was going to get you a thank you present,” Nico looked away, “but then I realized I don’t actually know what you like.”

“I don’t need a present, Nico.”

Nico looked back up at him. “I know.” Nico kept looking at him. “Checking up on me isn’t the only reason you’re here, is it?”

“No.”

“What is it this time? Should I take a guess?” 

Jason thought he saw a smile playing at Nico’s lips. At the lack of response the trace vanished. 

“You remember how I told you my friend Leo helped prove you were innocent?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, the way he did that was by hacking into your computer.” Nico took a fraction of a step back. “It was the only way we could get the evidence to get you out.”

“You still shouldn’t have--”

“I know. I know you value your privacy, but I also knew you didn’t help Hades escape.”

Nico’s jaw clenched as he stared down at the desk. 

“What else did you find then? I’m assuming that’s why you’re really here.”

Jason nodded even though Nico didn’t look up to see the confirmation, so instead Jason just pulled the papers from his pocket and set them in front of Nico. 

After staring at them for a moment Nico finally reached out to pick them up. He took a moment to look them over; when he finished, he set them back on the table.

“You must have some theories.” Nico finally said. “I’m curious as to what they could be.”

“Nico--”

“No. I want to know.”

Jason took one look at him and sighed. Nico wasn’t going to let this go, and something told him that if he tried to talk his way out of it something would fracture beyond repair, their relationship wouldn’t be the same again. It felt like he was being tested. 

“The containment facility,” Jason decided to start with, “is something left over from Hades. Perhaps to capture Supergirl, or someone else; whoever it is, he doesn’t want them getting out.” Jason moved the papers about the facility to the side to uncover pictures of the woman. “As for her, I don’t know. The pictures are all very candid, almost like he was...stalking her.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You really don’t think I have anything to do with all of this?”

“I saw footage of you supposedly aiding and abetting and didn’t believe it.”

Nico seemed to be at a loss for words. He sighed and let his arms fall from where they’d been crossed, the tension seeping out of his shoulders. 

“All that trust is going to get you hurt one day.” Nico said.

“So I’ve been told.” Jason smiled slightly and adjusted his glasses, perhaps Nico and Annabeth had more in common than they originally thought.

Nico looked over at the facility papers. 

“You’re wrong about the containment facility; it isn’t Hades. It’s mine.” Nico continued before Jason could interrupt. “I started work on it after my father was arrested. I knew that no normal prison could hold him for very long, he has too many connections. It’s why I had some of my own people on the inside watching him for me, so that when he tried to escape I could intercept him; but we’ve seen how well that worked out.”

“It’s for Hades? But he doesn’t have any powers or abilities. Why...”

“All the precautions? As I said, my father’s reach is far and wide, I like to cover all my bases. And to be quite honest I don’t trust other people or organizations to keep him contained humanely. He may have done some bad things, but he’s still my father.”  

“And the pictures?” 

“Her name is Hazel Levesque. She’s my sister...half sister.” Nico amended at Jason’s look of confusion. Nico continued, “It’s kind of a recent development. I didn’t even know about her until shortly before Hades was arrested.”

Jason finally took a seat in front of the desk. “How did you find out?”

“He told me.” Nico sat in front of Jason. “He knew the police were closing in on him. He knew that several of his accounts would be frozen, so he put me in charge of them. Ever since he found out about her he’s been sending her mother money, making sure they’re taken care of; it’s the least he can do.”

“How long has he known about her?”

“From what I gather a few years.”

“So, Hades took the pictures.”

“Had someone take them, but yes. They’re from when he first found out about her.”

“Does  _ she _ know?”

Nico sighed. “Hazel’s mother didn’t want anything to do with Hades, and Hades wanted her to have a normal life, out of the spotlight.” He stared down at his interlaced fingers on the table. “But she found out everything after Hades went to jail.” Nico smiled faintly. “We’ve been getting to know each other since then.”

“Leo didn’t find anything about that.”

“Good. That means my efforts to protect her identity aren’t wasted then.” 

Jason could only imagine the field day the press would have if they found out Hades had a secret daughter. As a member of that press Jason realized the amount of trust Nico was putting in him by telling him all of this. If Jason were lesser of a man he could tear Nico’s world apart with everything he knew. 

“Did that answer all of your questions?” Nico asked. 

It hadn't, but it had answered enough; Jason didn't want to pry any more than he already had so he nodded. 

“Now you can go tell your friend Leo that I'm not as bad as he thought I was.” He said it almost jokingly, as though he never expected Jason to do it. 

“Or,” Jason said drawing out the word, suddenly remembering the night at the police station. “You  _ could _ tell him yourself.”

 

The idea had originally came from Jason and Thalia’s siblings night. It was an easy and fun way to stay connected with their friends. Meet ups were a bit more infrequent due to everyone's busy schedules, and sometimes not everyone could make it. Annabeth, along with Percy, usually missed most of them; and if they were the ones hosting then Jason was most likely to be unable to attend. Which in retrospect was probably a good thing since Jason and Percy usually got super competitive. 

Normally they just played regular board games. But this time they had decided to try a campaign. At their last meet up they had all been tasked with creating a character for next time; Reyna had been chosen as the Game Master via coin flip, much to Leo’s dismay. 

Jason’s dining table had been cleared off to make room as Thalia helped Reyna set up, and Leo had taken it upon himself to order pizza. 

“I hope your boy doesn’t expect anything fancy.” Leo told him from the couch.

Jason nearly dropped the plates in his hands. “I--he’s not my boy!” Leo snickered. “And I don’t know if he’s even going to come.” Jason may have extended the invitation, but Nico had looked hesitant when he said he’d think about it.

“If he does, you did tell him to bring a character sheet right?” Piper asked.

“...Uh.” Piper sighed at him. “What? I’m lucky I even remembered to make my own.”

“Yeah, a human paladin, how completely unexpected.” Leo said rolling his eyes.

“Like yours is any better?”

“Hell yeah he is, my dwarf bard is going to kick your ass!”

“Wait,” Piper said, “I thought we were all on the same team?”

“We are,” Thalia said as she came from the other room, Reyna following in behind her. “What are we fighting about?”

“Jason forgot to tell di Angelo to make a character.”

“Well that’s going to make it a bit hard for him to play.”

Jason signed and flopped down onto the chair beside the couch. “I invited him to game night. I completely forgot that we were doing a story thing.”

“Jason, it’s fine.” Reyna said. “If and when he gets here we’ll figure it out then.”

“Right.” Thalia said. “Now you losers ready to play?”

They all made their way over to the dining table, Reyna at the head with some papers splayed out in front of her. They all took turns introducing their characters. For someone who had never GMed before, Reyna seemed to set up the story effortlessly, explaining how to play as she did so. She had obviously done her research.

There was a knock at the door, Leo jumped up. “Pizza’s here!”

They had all given their share of the total and tip earlier so the interaction would take as little time as possible. But when Leo reentered the room pizza boxes weren’t stacked in his arms. Instead an awkward looking Nico stood beside him.

“Oh, am I late?”

Jason had almost given up hope that Nico was going to come. He looked good too; Jason had never seen him in anything other than a suit before, now he wore some fitted dark jeans and a long sleeve purple v neck shirt. Thalia kicked him under the table. 

“No. We, uh, we just got started.” Jason said as he discreetly slipped on his glasses. 

“We saved you a seat.” Thalia said gesturing to the chair beside Jason. 

Nico slowly made his way over to it, still looking at Thalia. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

“I stopped that guy from shooting you that time you gave your speech.” 

“She's also my sister, Thalia.” Jason then gestured to the others. “That's Leo and Reyna, and you've already officially met Piper.”

“It's nice to see you again.” Nico told her. 

“Likewise.” Piper said with a knowing look directed at Jason. 

Nico glanced over at Reyna before taking a seat. Jason could only imagine how strange it must be to see the person who had arrested you again. 

“I didn’t know you were friends.” He said looking between Reyna and Jason.

“Yeah, we met through Thalia.”

“Nico,” Reyna said, “did Jason tell you what we were playing?”

“No, not really.”

“So you don't have a character ready.” Leo stated. He had taken a seat beside Piper. 

Even though Jason had pulled Leo aside beforehand, after telling the others that he'd invited Nico, and explained to him the reasoning behind the pictures and the contaminant facility, he was still acting weird. 

“Character?”

“We’re playing D&D. Dungeons and Dragons.” Jason explained. “I completely forgot what we were playing this time. Sorry I didn’t tell you to prepare a character beforehand.”

“I can just watch then.” Nico said. 

“Are you sure?” Jason asked. 

“You could always voice one of the NPCs,” Reyna suggested. “I'm not doing character voices so it would add some variety.”

“No, that's fine. I'm alright with just watching for now.” 

With that Reyna briefly explained where they were at and continued on with the story. Before they got too far though they all took a moment to reintroduce their characters, from Piper’s elf rouge, to Jason’s human paladin-- which upon hearing earned a small snort from Nico.

No one else seemed to noticed the reaction. Jason wanted to ask about it, he even thought about typing up a note on his phone and passing it over as to not draw attention to them; but that would probably also draw attention if they got caught. So Jason just gave Nico a confused look and ultimately let it go. 

As the night went on Nico seemed to relax little by little, he even helped solve a couple of the puzzles. 

In Jason’s opinion the night turned out to be a success. Unfortunately though it did have to come to an end, and Reyna only left them wanting more with high anticipation for next time. 

They all cleaned up their trash, leaving the dishes for Jason to wash, and said their goodbyes for the night. Thalia left with Reyna, and Leo asked Piper to give him a lift home since he had came with Jason from the DEO. 

Which left Nico, who was looking at the line of pictures placed on the mantel. 

Jason made his way over to him, Nico looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but otherwise didn’t move. Most of the pictures were just of him and Thalia through the years, there were only a couple of the two of them and their mom in the entire apartment. 

“How’d you get that scar on your lip?” Nico asked. 

“What?” Jason laughed slightly at the random question.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Nico seemed to backpedal. “I was just curious, and I noticed there’s not a single picture where you don’t have it.”

That was because he had gotten the scar on Krypton. 

“I tried to eat a stapler when I was two.” Jason said, but to be honest he didn’t know how he’d really gotten the scar, he had never thought to ask before he was sent to Earth; the stapler had just been the cover story that Thalia had come up with should anyone ask about it. 

Nico let out a puff of air resembling a laugh and shook his head. 

“A stapler, really?”

“Yeah. How'd you think I got it? You must have some theories.” He said echoing Nico's earlier words. 

“I don't know.” He said shrugging. “You stopped a mugging or something.”

“Yep, at two years old I stopped a mugging. I was a super baby.”

The smile from the laugh still lingered on his face. “I wouldn't be surprised. But you have to remember I didn't know you were  _ two _ when I was coming up with my theories.”

“Okay, fair.” Nico turned back to look at the pictures but Jason just kept looking at him. “I’m glad you came.” Jason told him. 

“I’ll admit I seriously thought about not coming. But I’m glad I did.” Nico looked back toward him, the smile only faded slightly. “Do you know when the last time I played something like D&D was?”

“I didn’t know you had played before.”

“It wasn’t Dungeons and Dragons exactly, but similar enough.” He looked back at the pictures, not wanting to look Jason in the eye. “It was before Bianca died.”

Jason froze. Not once, with the exception of his first interview, had Nico ever talked about Bianca. If the subject ever strayed close to her he would turn it away.

“She would play Mythomagic with me occasionally.” Nico continued. “I knew she wasn’t really into it but….that’s what siblings do for each other sometimes. It was nice to be a part of it again. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.”

“You don’t talk about her a lot.” Jason tried.

“No. I don’t.” Nico seemed to be done with the conversation, but it didn’t feel right to leave it there. Jason had never tried to push Nico on something he clearly didn’t want to talk about, but this time it felt like he had too.

“I get it. It can be painful to talk about the ones you’ve lost; even if it’s happy things.”

“You sound like you have experience with it.”

“Well, my birth family died in a fire.” It wasn’t to far from the truth. “Then after I was adopted by Thalia’s family her dad left and a few years later her mom ran herself off a cliff when she was drunk. So yeah, I have a bit of experience.”

“Oh.” He didn’t say anything else, and Jason was grateful. He had heard ‘I’m sorry’ enough to last a lifetime, and he never knew what to say in response. He figured Nico probably had a similar experience. 

“What I’m saying is, it hurts to talk about them, but sometimes it’s nice to remember. Trying to forget only hurts yourself in the long run. So if you ever wanted someone to talk to about her, I’m happy to listen.”

Nico’s fingers tapped against his leg and it took him a moment to look up at Jason. 

“Maybe.” He said. “But not today.”

Jason nodded. “Whenever you want.”

 

After taking care of the dishes and making sure all the trash had been picked up Jason finally made his way to bed. He couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation he’d had with Nico. Just when he thought he’d figured him out Nico seemed to always surprise him. 

He grabbed his phone off the nightstand, where it had been charging, as he settled in. He had a few messages sent from the others shortly after they’d left. Most of it was low key approval of Nico, but they were still a bit skeptic. When he got to Thalia’s it was mostly just teasing.

**Thalia**

_ 11:38 PM _

-don’t think i didn’t notice how much you were staring at him tonight

-you thought no one was looking

-but i see all!!

-i’m not letting you live this down for at least a week dude

_ 12:03 AM _

-you actually really like him, don’t you?

 

And well, Jason couldn’t really disagree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't want to jinx anything, but i'm making some good progress with the next chapter and that might be up sooner than you think!!
> 
> Up next: an article nearly ruins everything


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would have had this chapter out sooner but wow click bait titles are hard to come up with, i will never disrespect buzzfeed again lol
> 
> as always a big thanks to my beta [brightlightbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile) for being awesome, and also for writing the article in this chapter.
> 
>  
> 
> just going to say it right now, this one is a roller coster, uh good luck?

Game night hadn’t been as terrible as Nico had initially expected. The night had started out awkward enough, starting with him being late and escalating to seeing Officer Reyna again, but Jason’s friends didn’t make it weird. He could tell they were still hesitant around him, which given his parentage and his recent history, was understandable. 

But it had been nice to be around a group of people that weren’t interested in the aspects of his business for once. He was even a bit excited for next time, if he was invited again that is, he wasn’t about to make any assumptions on that matter. He may even take Jason up on his offer to talk about Bianca; it wouldn’t be easy by any means, but Jason had a point, and it’s not like he was a stranger anymore, unlike the first time. 

Nico glanced over at the clock on the wall and started to pack up, Jason would probably be here any minute. 

The door to his office opened and he stood, but it wasn’t Jason standing there.

It briefly reminded him of the first time he'd met her. She had managed to slip past all his security measures and into his office, instantly demanding answers. Why was he doing this? What did Hades want from her? In the midst of transfering accounts to his name a payment went unpaid, that was all it had taken. So he had told her everything. Of course Hazel hadn't believed him at first. But a few days later, after she had left, he received a call from her; her mother had confirmed it all. 

_ “So I guess you're my brother.”  _ Hazel had said.  _ “I've never had a brother before.” _

_ “I've never had a younger sister.” _

_ “This is a lot to process.” _

_ “I know.”  _ He had been prepared to never speak to her again. For fate to dangle the opportunity of having a sister again in front of his face and then cruelly snatch it away. 

_ “Do you think--”  _ she had paused for a moment before continuing.  _ “Do you think it would be possible for us to get to know each other? I know I'm just a stranger to you, but we are family...kind of anyway.” _

_ “I'd like that.” _

Now she stood in his office as though she had done it a thousand times. 

“Hazel?”

“Surprise!”

“It's good to see you, but… what are you doing here?”

“I was in the city and thought I'd drop by for a visit. I'm not interrupting anything am I?”

“Not at all, I just had some lunch plans.”

It was then that Jason opened the door, he stopped halfway through when he saw them. 

“Oh, am I early?”

“No, you're right on time.” Nico assured. “Hazel, this is Jason. Jason, this is my sister, Hazel.”

“Wait. Jason? As in Jason Grace?”

“Yes?”

“I've heard a lot about you!” She said with a smile. Nico had to admit he might have mentioned Jason here and there every so often when they talked. “You're Nico’s partner right?”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well I mean I've helped him with some stuff here and there, but I wouldn't call myself his partner per se. We're friends.”

“Oh no, I meant you’re his bo--”

“Lunch!” Nico cut Hazel off. Perhaps he had talked about Jason a bit too much. “We were going to get lunch.”

Jason looked between them. “Your sister is visiting, I don't want to intrude on that.”

“No, I'm just dropping by.” Hazel said. “I didn't know that Nico already had plans. Please don't cancel on my account.”

“It's just lunch, why don't you come too?” Jason said looking to Nico for confirmation. 

Nico nodded. “Yeah you can come with us.”

 

Their table was outside surrounded by foliage, giving it an air of privacy. 

Most of of conversation was Hazel getting to know Jason better and vice versa. She talked about her major, her art, and about Frank, her boyfriend of three years. She told Nico about how they were thinking of moving to National City. 

It left Nico with a mixed bag of feelings. On one hand he would love for Hazel to be closer, but on the other she might be put at risk should people find out who she was. 

Jason's phone rang in his pocket and he excused himself to answer it. 

“He's a reporter? You never mentioned that.” Hazel said after he'd left. “Are you sure that's safe?”

“I understand your skepticism, I was skeptical too when I first met him. But he's a good guy...we're friends.”

Before she could respond Jason returned, apologizing that he had to go, there was a work emergency. He told Hazel it was nice to officially meet her and told Nico goodbye before he left. 

Hazel wrapped her hands around her half empty glass. 

“So, what are we going to do?”

“What?”

“About...Hades…...dad?” Hazel was still getting used to the idea of Hades being her father, Nico could tell it was weird for her and she wasn’t quite sure how she was comfortable referring to him yet. “His escape was all over the news.”  _ So was your arrest and release _ , went unsaid. 

“I already have a plan in mind, you don’t need to worry about it.” He should have known Hades would escape before he was ready to deal with him, it should have been obvious a mile away. This was his problem to deal with, there was no reason Hazel had to get wrapped up in this; she still had a normal life, and Nico would do everything in his power to protect that. 

“Of course I’m going to worry about it!” Hazel said. “You may have had to deal with all this stuff on your own before, but you don’t have to anymore; I want to help any way I can.”

“There’s nothing you can really do. Besides, it could be dangerous.”

“All the more reason to help.” Hazel told him, she reached across the table and took hold of his hand. “We might not have known each other for very long, but you’re my brother, you’re stuck with me now. We’re in this together.”

Nico wasn’t thrilled she was involving herself, but he had to admit that it was a bit of a relief to not have to worry about this alone.

“Sorry about earlier by the way.” She said letting go of his hand. “The whole ‘partner’ thing. It’s just, from how much you’ve talked about him, and the  _ way _ you talk about him I thought you were together.”

“I haven’t talked about him  _ that _ much, and I don’t know what you mean about the way I talk about him.”

Hazel leveled him with a look. The condensation on Nico’s glass suddenly became extremely interesting. He sighed.

“It’s complicated okay?”

“So you do like him.”

“...Yeah.” Nico said. 

Since the first time they met, Jason had proven himself to be a decent human being and an even better friend. Nico had given Jason plenty of opportunities to betray him. Not once had he ever risen to the bait. Even when the entire city had been against him, even when there had been, albeit fake, video evidence of him committing a crime, Jason had come to his rescue and proven his innocence.

Nico picked up his glass to hide the smile tugging at his lips. “I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

 

> **Nico di Angelo’s Mysterious Lunch Date**
> 
> Todd Crowder    
> 
> 
> _ With the recent escape of Hades still fresh in everyone’s minds, it’s unsurprising that Nico di Angelo has been the focus of many rumors. The first being that despite his quick release from custody, which is still a mystery to us, he is in fact responsible for his father’s escape. Another mystery concerning the family has recently come to light. _
> 
> _ Di Angelo was spotted having lunch with a young woman yesterday, and while we naturally assumed it was a date at first, some digging led us to a far more interesting conclusion. Despite the recent public scrutiny, the di Angelo’s are still a family of secrets. Nico himself has revealed very little of himself to the public, leading to a lot of suspicion being placed on him.  _
> 
> _ As difficult as it was to find information on the mysterious woman di Angelo was seen eating lunch with yesterday, we did manage to find out what is perhaps the biggest secret the family has been keeping. Hazel Levesque. Levesque, (pictured above) is the illegitimate daughter of Hades, and Nico di Angelo’s half sister.  _
> 
> _ We dug up everything you might want to know about her, and about the many other secrets the di Angelo’s have been keeping. _
> 
> Read more over at  _ gossip-city.com _   
> 
> 
>  

There were similar articles from nearly all the city's gossip magazines. All it had taken was one photo and suddenly everything was out in the open. How did they even figure out who Hazel was so quickly? It had only been a day. Other, more ‘credible’ outlets were beginning to pick up the story as well.

Nico’s phone buzzed again on his desk, another message from Jason asking if he was okay; as much as he liked talking to Jason, he wasn’t the one he wanted to hear from at the moment. Hazel had yet to respond to him and with this information out there it was making him incredibly anxious. 

Attacks on him had slowed considerably since Hades’ escape, but with Hazel’s identity revealed they could very well turn their attention to her. 

He picked up his phone, pacing behind his desk, and decided to try again. With each ring Nico’s anxiety only heightened. Just when he thought the call would go unanswered yet again, there was a distinct click on the other side. 

“I was just about to call you!” Hazel said by way of hello. “I couldn't find my phone and when I finally did I had to deal with my mom because of the articles--you have seen the articles right? I'm assuming that's why I have a bunch of missed calls from you?”

“So you're okay?”

“I'm fine. A little rattled not going to lie. I don't like people trying to pry into every aspect of my life.” She sighed. “But I guess on the bright side, now when I get married we don't have to worry about hiding your identity or about who we invite.”

“Wh--I--you're engaged?”

“What? No, don't be silly. Frank and I have only been dating for three years.”

“Right,” he said changing the subject. “Look, Hazel, I didn’t tell you this before because I didn’t want you to worry about me. But since this got out you should probably know.”

“Nico?”

“The reason why I was so insistent on keeping your identity a secret from the public is since I took over father’s company several people have tried to attack me; I didn’t want you to become a possible target by association.”

“I’m going back home in a couple days, I was planning on just lying low until then. Hopefully this whole thing will blow over.” Hazel sighed. “I know there are certain things you can’t tell me. But that’s not going to stop me from worrying about you. I got that right as soon as I found out I was your sister, understand?”

“Of course, my mistake.” Nico smiled. 

There was a pop in the background. 

“What was that? Hazel?” 

She didn’t respond and there was more noise in the background. It sounded like people were yelling. 

“Hazel? What’s going on? Hazel!”

“Nico,” she whispered, “there are these guys--”

“At the hotel?”

“No, in the store.”

“Store? I thought you said you were lying low until this blew over?”

“I just went to get some food, I thought I’d be fine.”

He heard her gasp, and then more yelling; this time Nico could distinctly hear someone speaking, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

“This is what you were talking about, isn’t it? About the attacks.”

“Where are you?” Nico said instead of answering.

“Nico--”

“Where? I’m on my way just tell me where.”

She told him the name of the place. It was at least a good ten minutes away. Nico could be there in less than half that.

He wasn’t going to lose his sister. Not again.

 

Nico still hadn’t responded to any of Jason’s messages, aside from a short ‘I’m fine.’

Those damn articles, they proved that some reporters really were just vultures. He could only imagine how worried Nico must be. 

Jason picked up his phone and sent another message, knowing that it probably would remain unanswered like the others. 

He didn’t know how he could help, how he could make this better. It wasn’t like he could go back in time and change anything. Perhaps he could write a counter article? Talk about the value of privacy, discredit the false accusations against him. Jason leaned back in his chair and sighed. It wouldn’t change anything, not really. People were going to believe what they wanted no matter how untrue it was. 

He picked up the trashy magazines, wishing he could use his laser vision, he took a quick glance around the office before tossing them in the garbage. 

Jason’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Upon reading the message he shot to his feet, gave his boss a half-assed lie about getting a big tip, and ran out. Once out of sight he changed in matter of seconds.

A local supermarket was under attack, normally this wouldn’t be cause to call Superman right away, but according to the message the guys had extremely dangerous weapons. 

When he arrived he quickly checked the store’s perimeter, then landed on the roof as he looked inside. 

The two attackers had their back to him, it looked like they had rounded most of the shoppers up to use as hostages. 

There was movement at the edge of his vision. 

Hazel was on the other side of the aisle, discreetly looking around at the attackers. One of the attackers pointed their gun at a hostage, laughing as they flinched. Hazel pressed her back flat against the shelves and curled her hands into fists.

“Don’t do something stupid.” Jason pleaded. 

She stepped around the corner. 

Jason rushed inside. 

The ground started to shake, shelves swaying enough for some items to fall off, crashing to the floor. 

“Go!” Hazel shouted to the others. “Get out!”

“Oh, no you don’t!” One of the attackers yelled, taking aim. Hazel flicked her hand to the side, a strange aura of energy surrounding it, and the man’s weapon was gone.

“I don’t think so.” She said as she pulled the weapon from behind her back before dropping it to the ground.

The man backed up. “How--?”

Now that Jason could see the attackers’ faces he instantly recognized them from being with Hades the night he escaped. And with Hazel’s focus on one, the other started to make his way toward the escaping civilians. 

Hazel had abilities, and she obviously knew how to use them. She could hold her own. 

Jason grabbed the other guy before he could get very far. 

“Hazel!” Nico came running in. 

A big piece of metal came flying forward, out of nowhere, hitting the other attacker in the back of the head, effectively knocking him out. 

As the man crumbled to the ground Hazel rushed over to Nico and pulled him into an embrace, Jason turned to deal with the other guy, allowing them their movement.

“Are you alright?” He heard Nico ask.

“I’m fine, I had it handled….for the most part.” 

Thalia and a few other agents entered shortly after, taking the attacker off Jason’s hands.

Hazel had let go of Nico, but they still stood close enough to talk quietly. 

The other attacker, who laid only a short distance away, started to rouse. Jason didn’t notice at first. He was speaking with Thalia, filling her in on what exactly happened; he didn’t understand why Hades’ goons where here, it didn’t make sense. But by the time he did--

A single shot rang out throughout the store.

There was a split second of silence before the agents sprung into action.

Everything seemed to slow as Hazel stumbled back and clutched her chest as it started to seep with red. Nico reached out for her as she went down. Nico didn’t hesitate as he tore off his jacket, balling it up to apply pressure and attempt to stop the bleeding. 

Jason knelt down on the other side of her checking the pulse at her neck. When he glanced back up at Nico he saw that his arm was bleeding too; the bullet must have hit him after it exited Hazel.

“There’s an ambulance on it’s way.” Jason assured. He hadn't specifically heard anyone call for one, but it was standard procedure. “It’s only a few minutes out.”

“She won’t make it.” Nico said, eyes wide, just barely loud enough to even be considered a whisper. “She won’t--” He looked up at Jason. “She was already weak from using her powers earlier, she won’t make it to the hospital. You have to do something, please Jason! I can’t lose my sister again! I can't...” 

Jason had never seen him look more terrified. He looked back down at Hazel, her skin was already clammy, and her breaths were short and shallow, and though Nico’s jacket was dark, Jason could tell it was already soaked with blood. 

Even if the ambulance did get there in time, that didn’t guarantee it would to the hospital, and in Hazel’s current state if they would even be able to save her there. 

Jason knew a place, but it would be against a numerous amount of protocols.

Nico was shaking and his hands were beginning to stain red as he tried to apply more pressure.

“Do you trust me?” Jason asked.

Nico looked up at him. “Yes.”

As gently as he could Jason gathered Hazel into his arms, letting her fall close to his chest so the momentum wouldn’t jar her to much. 

Without wasting another second Jason flew off, making his way to the DEO headquarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the bright side i have already finished chapter 9, shocking i know. but as a matter of when it's going to go up ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Up next: a confrontation


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would have had this chapter out a lot sooner but tbh i kinda wanted you guy to suffer a bit from that last chapter lol, but then i got busy with life stuff and forgot
> 
> bit of a shorter chapter this time, but oh man you guys i can't believe we only have 5 chapters left?? also it's been basically a year since i started this thing??
> 
> I just want to give a quick shoutout to everyone who has read, commented, and given kudos on this thing and for sticking with me through all of the long waits for updates. you guys don't know how much it means to me that you actually like this story.   
> just thank you all
> 
> once again, huge thanks to [brightlightbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile) for being awesome!

The machines beeped methodically in the tiny room. Thanks to the advanced technology at the DEO, the surgery had only taken a few hours, but it had felt like an eternity. Hazel was stable for now. The doctors were confident she would make a full recovery, but they still wanted to keep an eye on her, at least until she woke up. 

She was incredibly lucky, they had said; just a centimeter over and it would have hit her heart, how lucky that the bullet hadn’t shattered in the impact and hit anything other than her lung. 

How  _ lucky.  _

Lucky would have been the bullet missing her all together. Lucky would have been Jason noticing in time to block it. Jason knew he could have done more. He could have been more vigilant, he could have stopped Hazel from confronting the attackers in the first place. If he had just been selfish enough to have lunch with Nico alone then the article wouldn’t even exist.

Jason shook his head, trying to drive the thoughts away. He had learned a long time ago that dwelling on what he could have done doesn’t help anything, the only thing you can do is learn from it. 

But still he kept running through what had happened. He couldn’t stop seeing Hazel get shot, Nico kneeling over her desperately trying to save her, or Nico begging him to help and--

Jason froze.

_ Nico knew. _

Nico knew he was Superman.

In all of the commotion he had missed it at the time, but Nico had called him by his name, not Superman.

A hand touched his shoulder and Jason flinched away, turning to see Thalia.

“Are you okay?”

He just gave her a brief glance. “I’m fine. I have to go. Keep me updated on Hazel.”

Without even waiting for a reply he was already out the door and in the air.

 

Naturally he wanted to confront Nico immediately, but if by some small chance he was wrong he couldn’t afford any rash decisions. So instead he flew around the city for a bit, staying out of sight, to try and clear his head. 

He couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. Jason had constantly gone to bat for Nico, no matter what everyone else had said about him. Now he couldn't stop those nagging little voices telling him that this was the perfect thing Nico could use against him, it had been a trap all along and Jason had fallen for it like the kind hearted fool he was. How long had Nico known? How did he even find out in the first place? But most of all, why hadn’t he told Jason that he knew?

The sun hung low in the sky, not quite dipping into the horizon just yet. Jason sighed and turned on his comm, changing it to the frequency that him and Thalia used when they didn’t want anyone else listening. Thalia was usually the more logical of the two, perhaps she could offer some insight on Jason’s dilemma. With the way he’d run off there was a high probability that she would be tuned into it.

“Hey.”

“Jason?” She said after a moment. “What’s going on?”

“How’s Hazel?” He asked instead.

“....She’s okay, her vitals are good, but she hasn’t woken up yet, which is to be expected.” She was quite for a moment, waiting for him to respond, when it was clear that he wasn’t going to she said, “Jason what’s going on? Why did you run off like that?”

He took a breath. “He knows.”

“Who knows what?”

“Nico. He  _ knows _ .”

He heard her swear. “Okay, okay, we can fix this. Are you sure he knows?”

“Fairly certain.”

“We’ve dealt with a problem like this before with Ms. Grant, we can do the same thing.” 

Jason remembered it well, Ms. Grant the previous CEO of CatCo, became suspicious of Jason’s identity and eventually she put two and two together. The only way they threw her off the trail was for Chiron to shapeshift to look like Superman and for him and Jason to be in the same room at the same time, it was a foolproof plan.

“I can go get Chiron now, and explain--”

“No.” The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. “I mean, it’s a good back up plan but…I think I need to do this on my own first. I just--I need to know how...why.”

She seemed to take a moment to process what he’d said. “Are you sure this is a good idea? If this goes bad--”

“I know. I mean I’ve trusted him this far right?” He could practically hear everything she wasn’t letting herself say, Jason appreciated the gesture. “Go ahead and tell Chiron, just in case. I’ll call to let you know how it goes.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

 

Jason had never been to Nico's apartment before. Nico had only mentioned it once in all the time they’d spoken, if Jason hadn’t known any better he would think that Nico lived in his office. But now Jason was here, hovering outside his very real apartment. 

Quaint, was a word that came to mind when he saw it. It was a modest place for someone of Nico’s financial standings. He lived on the sixth floor, the brick had been weathered to a dull grey and the railing on the balcony had small specks of rust. This high up, with no other buildings at the same height, afforded a certain level of privacy; you didn’t always have to worry about closing your curtains when it got dark out. 

The sun had gone only a few minutes ago, leaving stars and a streak of orange in the sky.

Nico sat at his dining table, a coffee mug and his phone lay neatly in front of him while he balanced his elbows on the surface; he wrung his hands together where they were clasped and mostly stared at the clean wooden surface of the table, only taking small glances down at his phone.

He looked like he hadn’t moved in hours, judging by the fact that the lights were all off. He must have come home from the hospital--at least Jason hoped he had gone to the hospital, after all he had been hit too--fixed a drink and waited. There was nothing else he really could have done other than wait. Jason hadn’t told him where he was taking Hazel, and most likely he hadn’t heard anything since then. Jason couldn’t even imagine what Nico must be feeling, after having lost one sister in a tragic accident, and then to see another one, one who he’d only met a few months ago, get shot right in front of him and then taken away and hear nothing for hours on end? Jason didn’t know how he managed to cope.

Jason landed fully on the balcony and knocked gently on the window.

Nico startled slightly out of his daze and turned to look at the noise. When he saw Jason he stood quickly and made his way over to unlock the sliding glass door and let him in. 

“How is she?” Nico asked before Jason could even get fully inside. 

Jason pulled the door closed behind him. “She’s stable. They say she should make a full recovery.”

Nico sagged in relief, it was like the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders. 

“She’s going to be fine.” Jason assured. 

Nico made his way back over to the table, gripping the chair for balance before sitting down. 

“Thank you,” Nico gasped. “Thank you.”

Jason searched around for the light switch before flicking them on. Now that he could see better he made is way over to Nico, not quite sure if he should take a seat as well, so he stood a respectable distance away.

“It’ll still be a few days before you can see her.”

“What? Why?”

“Technically where I took her outsiders aren’t allowed, and it’s too risky to try and move her to a regular hospital.”  

Nico opened his mouth to protest. 

“I’ll keep you updated on any changes.” Jason said before he could. “And when she wakes up we’ll find a way for you to talk to her.”

Nico sat back in his chair with a nod. He looked down at his hands in his lap, gripping them together. 

“How bad was it?”

“It could have been worse.”

Nico’s head snapped up to him. “Don’t lie to me.”

Jason sighed. “You were right. She wouldn’t have made it if we had to wait for the paramedics.” Nico already looked rattled enough, so Jason decided to spare him all the details for the moment. “Speaking of paramedics, did you get treated for your injuries?”

Nico reached to touch his injured arm. “I took care of it.”

“You didn’t go to a doctor.”

Nico sneered slightly. “I think I’ve had enough press about me lately, without adding this to the mix. It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Certainly nothing compared to--” He couldn’t bring himself to finish. 

Nico let out a shaky breath and ran his hand through his hair. He glanced back over at Jason before looking away again.

“I’m sorry.” Nico said. “If it wasn’t for you then...I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“You don’t need to.”

Though, Jason thought, if he really wanted to then maybe he could answer some questions. But now after everything Jason wasn’t sure how to bring it up without sounding insensitive. 

Jason sighed.

“What?”

“Nothing, well not  _ nothing _ , it just feels kind of inappropriate to bring it up now.”

“After the day I’ve had, I doubt it compares.”

Jason thought for a moment how exactly he wanted to approach this. 

“Before, when you were asking me to help Hazel, you called me Jason.”

Until now Nico had been avoided looking him in the eyes. They only held contact for a couple seconds before Nico looked away again. 

“So you did hear it.”

He took a small step forward. “Why do you think I'm Jason?”

Nico gave him a withering look. “The cat is already out of several bags, you don't have to pretend. I know, and now you know that I know.”

Jason had a choice to make. He could do everything in his power to convince Nico that Jason wasn't Superman; after all Thalia had already informed Chiron on the matter and he was only a call away, he could be here in a matter of minutes. Or he could trust Nico, and given his previous track record, the answer was obvious. 

“How long have you known?”

“Since the gala.”

“What? But that was months ago!”

“I know.” 

Nico stood, grabbing the mug from the table and made his way to the kitchen, Jason trailing behind him. He was at a loss for words as he watched Nico rinse the mug out and leave it in the sink. 

“You've known for months….and never said anything?”

“I didn't figure it all out right away.” Nico said as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. “The gala is just when I first started suspecting that you might be.”

“But you still never said anything.” Jason said helplessly. 

“Back then we were just starting to consider each other friends. You might not want to admit it but I could tell you were still a bit skeptical of me, albeit for good reason. How was I supposed to just bring that up without it sounding like I had blackmail on you? Should I have just said ‘Hey  by the way, I know that you, Jason Grace, are Superman, but don’t worry that I know!’”

Jason rolled his eyes at Nico’s hypothetical reveal. “Obviously that’s not how you should have phrased it, but...were you ever going to tell me at all?”

“Of course I was, I was just trying to find the right time.”

Jason leaned back onto the counter behind him. “Well I guess if you  _ were _ going to blackmail me you would have done it by now.”

Nico’s eyes went soft. “You’re my friend, Jason. You have to know that I would never use your identity against you, right? I know a thing or two about having your secrets revealed, it’s a really shitty thing to do to someone.”

The article, Jason immediately thought, but something told him Nico meant more than just that. 

“You know,” Jason said, “sometimes I feel like you know all this stuff about me and I still don’t know that much about you.”

Nico looked off to the side. “You’re probably right, I’m not exactly forthcoming with personal details.”

“True. But I imagine it can’t be easy.” 

Nico looked down and then back up at Jason. “I know I should have told you sooner, but I just didn’t….know how. Are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Jason glanced at the clock on the microwave beside Nico’s head, and then down at Nico himself. He looked haggard, to put it lightly, like we was going to drop any minute. “It’s getting late, you should get some rest.”

“It’s been a hell of a day.” 

Jason started making his way back to the balcony door. 

“I’ll keep you updated on Hazel’s condition, and as soon as she’s cleared to leave I’ll bring her here.”

Nico nodded in agreement. “I’ll have to get her stuff from her hotel room.”

Jason moved to open the door but stopped. There was still one question he hadn’t asked yet and he knew it would bug him until he knew the answer. 

“How did you figure it out?”

Nico was briefly taken back by the question before regaining his composure and shrugged.

“The scar on your lip. Jason has one but Superman doesn’t. At some point during the gala you must have forgotten to uncover it when you switched back. Even if that had been just a weird coincidence there’s a bunch of other little things. Separately they don’t really mean much, but together, it’s kind of hard not to draw your conclusions. It’s not super obvious if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jason hadn’t been, but maybe he should be. 

“Well you’re a part of an exclusive club now of people that know.”

“And who all is that?”

“You remember everyone from game night?”

“Yeah. Wait, even Officer Reyna?”

“She figured it out after her and Thalia started dating. Then there’s everyone where I work.”

“At CatCo?” Nico asked incredulously. 

“Where….Superman works,” Jason clarified. “Where Hazel is.” 

Perhaps it would relieve some of the remaining tension knowing that Jason worked where Hazel was currently being kept. 

Jason slid open the door. “For what it’s worth, I’m actually kind of relieved that you know now. I know I can trust you. You’re a good person Nico.”

He looked like he wanted to disagree. 

“It’s getting late.” He said instead, echoing Jason’s earlier statement. 

Jason wanted to push the issue, but it wasn’t the time for it, so he let it drop. Just by looking at him Jason could see that Nico desperately needed some rest.

“I’ll keep you updated.” With that he was out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> makes you wonder what else Nico is keeping secret....
> 
> Up next: an awkward confession


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise bitch! Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me
> 
> ....but really though, hi? it's been a while.  
> writer's block sucks, and then i had a bunch of shit going on in my life, like hey! i started going back to college 4 years after dropping out the first time! i broke my toe lol. my cat had some medical complications which we're still working on paying off (i'll have a link to a post leading to the gofundme at the bottom). and to top it all off i was kind of in a hurricane?
> 
> well enough about me, enjoy the chapter, and know that no matter how long it takes me to update, there will alway eventually be one!
> 
> and as always thanks for all the hard work from my beta[brightlightbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile)

“Alright.” Thalia said as she removed the blood pressure pump from Hazel’s arm. “You're all good to go.”

Jason stood at the door, in his civilian clothes, waiting for Hazel to officially be cleared. 

Chiron had basically cornered him as soon as he made it back from Nico’s apartment; and then promptly went off about how many protocols Jason had broken by bringing Hazel here, and then about how flippant and careless he’d been about keeping his identity a secret; in general and keeping it from, you know, the son of one of the most notorious villains that they were still specifically looking for.

So by the time Hazel had woken up and they realized that she'd heard Nico's slip up about Jason's identity as well, Chiron had nothing left except for a headache. 

 

As promised Jason kept Nico updated on Hazel’s condition. And when she finally woke up enough to actually be aware that she was awake, Jason called Nico and let them talk for a while.

And now after several long days, Hazel was cleared to leave. Thanks to the DEO’s technology she was mostly healed but she would still be sore for a few days, so it was recommended that she take it easy.

Hazel hopped down from the bed while Thaila rattled off some things to help ease the pain, and also suggesting that in a few weeks she come back to the DEO for a follow up; since she couldn’t go to a regular doctor.

“Okay I think that’s everything.” Thalia said. “So whenever you’re ready, Jason will take you back. Do you have any questions before you go?”

“No I think you covered it pretty well. Um, just, thanks. Thank you for saving me.”

“Of course. I’m glad you’re alright.” Thalia smiled at her. “Well I’ll leave you to it then.”

With Thaila gone, Hazel and Jason were left in the increasing awkward silence. Though she’d been here for a few days, and only conscious for less than half of them, this was the first time she was actually able to speak with Jason. 

“....So,” Hazel finally said. “You’re….Superman.”

“Yeah.”

“That actually explains a lot. It makes make me feel a lot better too, knowing that you're Superman.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. ”Why?”

“Because before you were just some reporter, who by the  _ grace and goodness of his heart _ , wasn’t taking everything he knew and turning it into a story. But you’re Superman, so you wouldn’t.”

“Even if I wasn’t Superman and just a reporter, I still wouldn’t.”

“Maybe. But I think that’s what makes you Superman. You have all this power and could theoretically do whatever you want, but you  _ choose _ to be good.”

Jason smiled slightly. “You really care about Nico, don’t you.”

“Of course I care about him. I may not have known him for very long but he’s my brother.”

“He’s lucky to have you.”

Hazel smiled back at him. “He’s lucky to have you too.”

 

When asked how she'd like to leave, via the front doors or flying, Hazel chose flying. Mostly because she had missed the opportunity to enjoy it the first time, she had said. Fortunately it was already night so they didn't have to wait to leave, since Jason didn't want to change into his superhero costume. 

The trip was quick without much fanfare. Hazel, in the end, only daring to look out at the city below every so often. 

Jason sat her gently down on the balcony when they reached Nico's apartment. He didn't even have to knock on the glass door before it was being thrown open and Hazel was wrapped in an embrace. Jason had told Nico ahead of time that it was very likely that Hazel would be released today but wasn't sure when, he must have been waiting this whole time. 

The look of relief was evident in his face, even buried in her hair. 

“I'm okay.” She told him. Once. Twice. He didn't appear to want to let go, but eventually he did. 

“You scared me.” Nico told her. 

“I'm sorry. They were going to hurt those people. I couldn't just stand by.”

Nico sighed. “I know. I'm just glad you're okay.” He stepped to the side so they could come in. “Your phone’s been going off. You should probably text Frank--”

Hazel dashed off, most likely to the guest room she'd be staying in, before he could finish. 

“It's like only a few days ago she wasn't shot in the chest.”

“She's resilient. Much like her brother.”

There was a small smile tugging at the edge of Nico's mouth as he turned toward Jason. 

“Thank you again. I don't know how I can ever repay you.”

“You don't need to repay me. You never need to repay me. I’d do it all again if I had to.” Jason turned to leave, intending to give them some space. But before he could even get out a goodbye, a hand grabbed his. It was gone as soon as it had arrived but Jason could still feel the remaining tinglyness from the cold of Nico's hand. 

Nico shoved his hands into his pockets, as though to keep himself from reaching out again. There was a slight tinge to his cheeks as well but Jason assumed that was most likely just the lighting. 

“I mean it.” Nico said, “thank you.”

“Any time.” Jason assured. “It’s getting late, I’m sure you’re both tired, so I’ll get out of your hair.”

Nico nodded in agreement. “Goodnight, Jason.”

 

It was rare for game nights to be so close to each other. It wasn’t unusual for months to span between them. But after the past few day everyone could use a break and some good dumb fun. And with Reyna being a surprisingly good storyteller, they all wanted to know what was going to happen next with their characters.

Jason had also extend the invitation to Nico, as well as Hazel, since she was staying with Nico until she was fully recovered. Jason hoped that they would come, but wouldn’t be that surprised if they didn’t, given how stressful everything had been for them lately.

Reyna arrived early, as usual, to prepare her notes and to get the game ready before everyone else arrived. 

Surprisingly Nico and Hazel arrived next. Reyna greeted them as they settled on the couch while they waited for the others to arrive. 

Thalia, Leo, and Piper filtered in soon after. Leo nearly stopping in his tracks when he saw Hazel in person. Piper elbowed him in the chest to knock him out of it, nearly causing him to drop the snack food he’d brought along.

Leo dumped the snacks onto the table while Jason made quick introductions.

Nico still hadn’t created a character, saying that he was content to just watch again. Meanwhile Hazel admitted that she wasn't quite sure how to create a character and also didn't want to intrude on the story already being told; so Reyna offered to let her play as an NPC. After learning exactly what that was Hazel agreed. 

Hazel seemed to catch on quick after that, with some help from Nico who would explain the rules as they went along.

  
  


Even though Nico wasn’t an actual member of the party, the night seemed to be another success. Reyna had left it on yet another cliffhanger, alluding that next time they would probably wrap up the campaign. Leaving Nico hoping that he would be invited back yet again for the conclusion.

As everyone began to clean up and filter out Jason asked Nico to hang back for a minute to talk. Hazel gave him a knowing look before telling him she’d wait in the car. 

Nico gathered a few dishes from the table and took them into the kitchen with Jason.

“You know,” he said as he sat them down on the counter. “It’s kind of strange to play games like this with my sister….well  _ a _ sister, again. I mean I never really played D&D with Bianca because you can’t really play with just two people. But we would play board games, although most of the time I just wanted to play Mythomagic, even though she was really bad at it.” Nico looked up at Jason. “I haven’t let myself think about that for a very long time. You were right, sometimes it is nice to remember.”

“Do you want to talk about it some more?” Jason asked, dumping the dishes in the sink for later.

“I don’t think I’m there yet.” Jason nodded in understanding. “So what did you want to talk about?”

Jason froze for a second. “Uh, you know what, it can probably wait.”

“You sure? You seemed pretty serious when you asked me to stay.”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing...with everything.”

Jason seemed almost nervous? 

“I’m doing okay, everything considered.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Nico crossed his arms. “Something tells me that’s not what you really wanted to talk about.”

Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Yep. Definitely nervous. “We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah...”

“And if you think about it, it’s kind of strange. I mean in a story or another universe we could be enemies, I mean you’re Hades’ son, and I’m Superman. But we’re friends, against all odds.” Jason rambled on. “And I’m grateful for that. That we’re friends. Cause you’re great, and smart, I mean you took over your father’s company and completely turned it around! And I know that I can trust you. I don’t have to hide my superhero identity around you, because I know that you wouldn’t tell anyone. And you’re funny, despite the circumstances.” 

_ Oh.  _

_ Oh no. _

“So I guess what I’m trying to say is,” Nico tried to stop him but it was already too late. “Would you like to get dinner with me sometime, in a more-than-friend way?”

Nico took a step back, his arms falling to the side. He didn’t know why it was so unexpected, he should have seen the signs. Even  _ Hazel _ had noticed, had even  _ told _ him, but Nico had wanted to live in denial for a little while longer.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Nico couldn’t look him in the eyes. 

It’s what had to be done. Nothing good would come from  _ this _ , in the long run. Only pain and misery for someone who didn’t deserve it.

“Oh.” A word had never sounded so heartbreaking. “Okay. Can we just pretend I never said anything then?”

Nico forced himself to look up. Jason’s cheeks were flushed, he was shifting foot to foot, and looking anywhere but Nico.

“Jason...”

“No, you don’t have to let me down easy or anything. I can take a rejection.” He waved his hands in front of himself. “You don’t like me like that, it’s fine, really! But at the very least I want to be your friend.”

“But I do like you, that’s the problem!” The words had bubbled up and out before Nico could stop them. He resisted the urge to slap a hand over his mouth.

Jason was staring at him now, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

Why couldn’t he ever do anything right?

“I didn’t--I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I don’t understand. If you like me than how is that a problem?”

“It’s complicated, okay? There are still things you don’t know about me. I could never forgive myself if you got hurt because of me.”

“I won’t let Hades’ use you against me.”

“I’m not talking about my father! I’m talking about me! You think you know me but you don’t!” Nico took a breath and stepped back. “I should go, Hazel’s waiting.”

Jason didn’t try to stop him from leaving.

Nico held it together as he made his way down the hall. Held it together as he rode the elevator down. He held it together as he got in the car. 

His hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough for his knuckles to turn white, to hide the shaking.

“What did Jason want to talk about?” Hazel asked still looking at her phone.

“Nothing important.”

At that she looked over at him. “Nico?”

He knew that voice. He knew that if she asked him what was wrong he’d crack and spill open. Showing the inky blackness inside him, showing how utterly pathetic he truly was. In the end he was still that scared little boy afraid to lose anyone. He thought he would have learned by now.

Once Jason found out he would never trust him again.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Please, Hazel.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked back at Jason’s apartment building.

“What did he do?” She reached to unfasten her seatbelt. “I swear I’ll--”

“Hazel!” She froze. “Please. Just drop it.”

She sunk back down into her seat. “Okay.”

Nico pulled out of his parking spot and headed home.

Nico wished he could allow himself to be selfish. 

But he couldn’t. 

He didn’t deserve it. 

 

 

Jason had been feeling regret for days. He didn’t know what he had been thinking. Why had he thought asking Nico out would be a good idea? Why hadn’t he stopped him from leaving?

Jason wanted to apologize, but for what exactly? For telling Nico he liked him? For Nico not liking him back? Only Nico did like him back, which just made things more confusing. 

Thalia was right, there was no use dwelling on it right now. Even though it had already been a few days since the game. He hadn’t heard a single thing from him. Nico wanted space, Jason could understand and respect that. He had put him on the spot after all. Jason just hoped that he hadn’t completely ruined their friendship.

“Did you hear any of that?” Thalia asked beside him. “Or were you thinking about Nico again?”

“Uh...”

Thalia sighed. “That’s what I thought.”

“Sorry,” Jason said sheepishly. “We were talking about the guys who attacked Hazel right?”

“Right. And according to your descriptions, they're also the same people that helped free Hades.”

“Which doesn't make any sense. Given what we know so far of Hades and Hazel’s relationship, he wants to protect her, not hurt her.”

“So they had a falling out?” Leo suggested. “Hades isn’t know for playing well with others after all.”

“That’s a strong possibility.” Thalia said looking down at the map. It had markings of all their recorded activity, from Hades’ escape to a hit after Hazel got hurt.

Leo sighed looking down at the markings too. “There has to be some method to the madness.”

“Assuming they did have a falling out, we need to determine when that might have been.” Jason replied.

“If I had to guess, I’d put my money right here,” Thalia said point to a spot on the map. “Up until this point they were stealing stuff from di Angelo Inc. relatively unnoticed. They knew the codes, where the security measures were, because Hades was telling them. But here, they start to get sloppy. Then a few day later the article about Hazel comes out...and they know how they can really hurt him.”

“We need to figure out what their next move is.”

“Too bad we only actually managed to capture one of them in all the chaos of Hazel getting shot. And he’s not talking.” Jason and Thalia both looked at Leo. “What? It really is too bad.”

Jason leaned back in his chair. “They probably think Hazel is dead. So they might go after Nico next.”

“And/or the new tech his company has been working on.”

“What new tech?” Thalia asked.

“I found it when I was going through Nico’s stuff to help prove his innocence. I thought I told you.”

“You definitely never mentioned any new tech.” Jason was sure that Leo had never mentioned this before, or at least fairly certain. “Do you know what it is?”

“...Not really? It was all kind of vague, but from what I gathered it seemed to be some sort of power source? The data was incomplete.” Leo shrugged. 

“So the next target they’ll likely go after is the new tech, and by extension--”

“Nico.” Jason got up. “I have to warn him.”

“Jason--”

“Look, I know I’m supposed to be giving him space right now, but he’s still my friend, and I’m not going to let him get hurt if I can stop it.”

Thalia raised an eyebrow at him. “I was just going to say, be careful.”

“Oh.”

 

One would think with super speed you would never be late. But that leads to complacency, thinking you have enough time, and then before you know it....

It left Jason feeling like he was always two steps behind. 

The building was already in chaos by the time Jason arrived. It appeared the attackers were making their way out, leaving the destruction of the main lobby in their wake. Glass and debris littered the floor, and various furniture was scattered about. There were holes in the walls, the lights flickered, and a computer nearby was smoking.

Since Jason was still in his civilian clothes he ducked down behind a desk before the attackers could see him.

Just then Nico rounded a corner. His chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, his suit was torn in various places, and his lip was bleeding.

He tried to fight them. Jason realized. 

_ Alone.  _

Why hadn’t he called? Did Jason’s confession freak him out that bad?

“You're not leaving here with that briefcase!” Nico yelled. 

It was then that Jason noticed the briefcase tucked under one of the attacker’s arms. 

The attacker smiled. “Oh I think we are.” 

He aimed his gun to the ceiling directly above Nico’s head and fired.

The ceiling came raining down. 

Jason rushed over to save Nico from being crushed, but it was like with Hazel all over again. He wasn’t quick enough, just a second to late.

Jason stared down at the pile of rubble, the cloud of dust hadn’t even subsided before he began tearing away at it. Throwing the broken ceiling tiles left and right, desperately trying to get to the bottom. There was no telling how hurt Nico could be.

As he threw the last bits away he was met only with the floor. He heard a small cough off to the side, so close to the pile that Jason didn’t have to even turn his head to look. 

Nico crawled out from behind a desk that was behind the pile and and little over to the side. He hadn’t noticed it before because the light above it had been broken, casting it into darkness.

“Nico.” Jason crawled over the remaining debris.

“Jason?” Nico coughed. His face was deathly white, covered in the plaster dust. “What are you doing here?”

“We thought that they might attack here next, I was coming to warn you.”

“Consider me warned.”

“Are you okay?” Jason reached out to put a hand on his shoulder but stopped himself.

“I’m fine.” Nico sucked in a sharp breath. “For the most part at least.”

Jason sighed in relief. “I was worried. I-- how did you get behind the desk?”

“I...I jumped at the last minute. It was a really close call.”

But that didn’t make any sense. Jason had watched, almost helplessly, as the tiles fell. 

Nico hadn’t moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. Not Sorry >:)
> 
> Up next: Nico confesses
> 
> as i mentioned up top, last month my cat had some unexpected medical issues. if you'd like to help out at all, in any way [here's the post](http://demigod-of-berk.tumblr.com/post/177330767713/click-here-to-support-cicos-medical-fund)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i can't believe we only have 3 more chapters? where has the time gone??
> 
> speaking of time, it'll probably be a while before there's another update. nanowrimo is coming up, also the semester is ending soon. time really does fly, i feel so old.
> 
> Buckle up kiddos this chapter is going to be a ride!
> 
> thanks again to my beta, [brightlightbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightbandit/profile), especially for saying i was evil for pointing out which line in this chapter is foreshadowing, am i going to tell you what line that is? sure it's [REDACTED]
> 
> .....every time. *sigh* i can never give spoilers

Nico was pacing back and forth, Hazel was almost worried he'd run a hole into the floor. She had sat quietly as Nico told her what happened last night. His eyes were rimmed red from lack of sleep and his hair stuck up in funny places, but Hazel wasn’t laughing. 

“I don’t know what to do!” He finished.

Gently she grabbed his arm and pulled him down to sit beside her on the couch.

“You could always tell him.” She offered.

Nico scoffed. “No I can’t. Even if he somehow still trusted me after everything I’ve done, he would never look at me the same way again.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“No. But I’ve had enough experience to know that’s usually the outcome, if not something worse.”

“Did I look at you differently after you told me?”

Nico glanced over at her. “No…. But I only told you because I didn’t want you to think I was hiding anything from you, since you were already skeptical of Hades involvement in your life. I didn’t want you to find out on your own...and think the worst.”

“So do you really think Jason will be any different? Besides, Nico, you were a  _ kid _ . You had just lost two people you cared about. It was an accident, you never meant to hurt anyone.”

“But I did, and that’s the point.” Nico sighed. “Jason’s better off anyway. It doesn’t matter how I feel.”

“It does matter!” Hazel insisted. “Stop pushing people away when you get scared.”

“I don’t--”

“Yes you do!” She touched his arm. “I get it, you’re scared of losing people you care about. But if you don’t let anyone in, you’ll only end up hurting yourself. You deserve to be happy, Nico. you can’t keep punishing yourself for this.”

Nico was silent, staring at the floor. Hazel sighed.

“Look, I can’t tell you what to do here. It’s up to you in the end. Whatever you decide I’ll support you either way. I just don’t want you making a decision thinking that you don’t deserve a chance.”

Hazel hoped he would take her advice and talk to Jason, but she wasn’t getting her hopes too high that he would. After everything he’d been through, Nico deserved someone that made him happy. Sure that person happened to be one of his father’s enemies, making it a bit complicated. But they both liked each other. Nico didn’t realize it but he talked about Jason constantly. She could almost always hear a lightness in him when he did. It was why she was so surprised when she found out they weren't actually together, and even more surprised when she found out he was a  _ reporter  _ of all things. Hazel hadn’t known Jason for very long, but she could clearly see that he cared about Nico. The soft smiles and lingering gazes, even the way he positively lit up the moment he saw Nico on game night. 

If Nico did talk to Jason, Hazel desperately hoped she was right about him. That he wouldn’t shun Nico for things he had almost no control over, at a time when he was arguably at his most vulnerable.

 

Nico stared at the door in front of him. He felt like he’d been standing there for hours now, trying to convince himself to knock. He had already almost talked himself out of doing this three times now. 

He raised his fist, hovering in front of the door, before letting it fall to his side once again. 

This was a terrible idea. What was he thinking coming here?

There was always the chance that Jason hadn’t noticed that Nico should have been under the rubble, perhaps they could go on as if only the awkward confession had happened. Eventually their relationship would return to at least semi-normal. But Nico didn’t think that would work this time, he was certain the Jason  _ had  _ noticed, he would have questions. Questions that he probably deserved the answers to, but…..Nico couldn’t. 

He felt as though he were already hanging by a thread, and this could be the severing act. 

It had been so long since he’d had a friend, a  _ real  _ friend. 

He didn’t-- the door opened.

Jason stared at him for a moment in confusion. 

“Nico?”

Nico took a step back. He was tempted to bolt again, to run away from it all, to hide. It would be so  _ easy  _ in the moment, but he knew it would hurt like hell later. 

He knew that if he ran this time he would never stop. He would never see Jason again.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked. 

Finally Nico found his voice. “I’m fine.”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “I was going to call, but I didn’t know if….”

And Nico couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t deserve this, for Jason to be looking at him like he was something to be cared for. Not when he didn’t know everything.

Nico swallowed his nerves. “I need to talk to you.”

Wordlessly Jason stepped aside to let him in.

He took a seat on the couch, Jason joined him a moment later. 

Jason sat quietly while he waited for Nico to gather his thoughts. 

“I owe you an explanation.” Nico finally said after several long minutes, and then elaborated. “About why I said no.”

“I already told you, you don’t have you explain anything.”

“Yeah, I kinda do. You deserve an explanation, because you might not feel the same way after.”

Jason’s brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a line. For a moment Nico thought that Jason was going to say nothing. That he would make this at least a little bit easier. 

“You’re wrong.” Jason said. “It won’t change anything.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Nico snapped. “You act like you know everything but you don’t!”

Jason flinched at the outburst.

Nico took a breath to steady himself.  _ Off to a great start.  _ He clenched his fists and tried to calm himself.

“Being Superman,” Nico started. “It must be a hard job.” 

Jason nodded, looking a bit apprehensive. “It can be.”

“Have you….” Nico took another breath. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

“No. Not intentionally, but accidents do happen in my line of work.” Jason stared at him for a moment. “Nico, what is this about?”

He glanced at Jason and then looked at the floor. 

“I have powers.” Nico took another breath and continued before Jason could say anything. “I can speak to the dead, even control them sometimes, and I can use shadows to travel. Those types of things.”

“So that’s how...”

“Yeah.”

Jason opened his mouth to speak again but quickly closed it, before tentatively asking, “Can I ask questions?”

Nico nodded.

“How do you have powers? I thought that Hades whole point was that he hates people with powers.”

“It was an accident. When my mom was pregnant with me she was around some of his experiments and something happened. We didn’t find out until later.”

“So, Hazel has powers too? I think I saw it that day in the store.”

“Yeah. Only her mom already had powers, Hades didn’t find out until after the fact.”

“How did you find out about your powers?”

And there it was. The question he had been dreading most. Nico took a shuddering breath.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Jason said gently. And Nico knew he meant it too. Jason might wonder, but he would never bring it up again if Nico asked him not to. 

Jason, always so kind and considerate. Always trying to see the best in everyone even when there was none to see. Always willing to help, asking for nothing in return. 

How did someone like him ever get stuck with Nico?

Nico stared down at where his hands were curled into fists on his knees. 

“I’ve done some bad things, Jason.” Nico let out a shaky breath and snuck another glance over at him. “You really want to know how I found out about my powers?”

Jason waited. Nico wondered if his patience ever ran out. Nico's certainly did. The silence was nearly suffocating. 

A hand touched his shoulder and Nico flinched away. 

“Don't touch me.” Nico snapped and then quickly reined himself back in. “Sorry. Just please. I can't right now.”

Nico took a breath.  _ Just say it.  _ He kept telling himself. But the words stuck in his throat, almost as though they were cutting off his air supply. 

“I made someone disappear.” A half truth, but it was enough to finally get the words flowing. In the end it didn’t matter if Jason still liked him or not, if he insisted on being friends with Nico then he needed to know what exactly he was getting himself into. 

So he took another breath and he clarified. 

“I killed someone, Jason.”

Jason went rigid beside him. Nico shot up off the couch and took a couple steps forward, even though his legs felt like jelly.

“It was just after Bianca died,” he said. “There was this kid, he was a couple years older than me; a stereotypical bully. It was my first day back to school since…. He just started saying stuff, pushing me around, like normal. I told him to stop, to leave me alone, but he just kept going on. Then he brought Bianca and my mom into it.” Nico scoffed, “I don’t even remember now what he said exactly. I just know that one minute he had that cruel satisfied smile on his face and the next he was screaming.” Nico shook his head. “That, I’ll never forget.” 

Hesitantly he turned around, but still didn’t look at Jason. 

“I passed out right after. I didn’t even know what had happened….what  _ I had done _ until someone told me. Apparently I turned him into nothing, a ghost. Of course my father being who he is, covered it up with no problem. It never even made it to local news. Then he sent me to Italy, and kept me out of the public eye for as long as he could.”

Finally he lifted his eyes to met Jason’s. 

Nico’s breath caught in his chest. This is what he had been afraid of. 

Jason’s eyes were wide with horrified shock, and he looked as though he’d never seen Nico before. Or perhaps for the first time truly seeing him as he was. 

Nico would have prefered a knife to the gut, it would probably feel less painful than this.

“Nico...” He said it like the name was dragged from his throat, like he had meant to say something else instead.

_ Monster _ . Nico’s mind helpfully provided.

He looked away. How had he ever thought this was a good idea? How was  _ this _ better than not knowing? 

The sad part was Nico knew that if he had tried to hide it, the truth would come out eventually. But then at least his friendship could have last just a bit longer. Just a little bit longer where Jason wouldn’t have looked at him like  _ that _ . How pathetic. 

Jason’s face shifted into something unreadable, and he finally looked away, sinking back into the couch.

“This,” he said quietly. “This is a lot to process.”

Nico’s eyes danced around the room, searching.

“You need space, that’s understandable.”  _ I wouldn’t want to be around me either. _

Determination flashed in Jason’s eyes.

Nico’s stomach clenched uneasily. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, thankfully finding enough darkness to escape. He took a slow step backwards and Jason stood up. 

Jason reached out to grab him, nowhere near close to actually touching him, but for a moment Nico was afraid. He didn’t see Jason, his friend, instead he saw Superman, the embodiment of good, responsible for protecting people against those who do harm. And now Jason  _ knew. _

Nico stumbled back, desperate to get away. Not wanting to know what Jason was going to say, or what Superman was going to do.

He melted into the shadows without a second thought, Jason calling after him as he went.

 

Nico stumbled out of the dark, bumping against his desk as he tried to catch his breath. Moonlight shone through the large windows, casting a spotlight on him as he leaned over the cool surface. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, he quickly yanked it out and tossed it to the floor once he saw the caller ID. The screen cracked and the phone fell silent. At least now he didn’t have to worry about Jason trying to call him anymore. 

Nico let out a breath, relief, he told himself, before he froze. Now that he had better control over himself he could tell something was wrong about the air of his office. 

He wasn’t alone.

Nico spun around, ready to defend himself. But no attack came. Instead he just spotted a figure sitting in the corner. The light didn’t reach this section of his office, making the darkness appear  as though it were solid. He couldn’t quite make out who it was but when he did he chastised himself for not figuring it out sooner.

“Father, what are you doing here?”

“Can’t I pay my only son a visit?”

“How long have you been waiting for me?”

“Well I can’t very well show my face in public, can I? Let alone make an appointment.” 

Hades stood and walked a bit closer, his face showing in the light, but the shadows still stuck to him like ink.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been hanging around that…. _ reporter _ more.”

“His name is Jason.” Nico said. “He’s my friend.”

Or at least Nico still hoped he was. He was unsure where he stood anymore.

“You should know by now that people like us don’t get things as simple as friends. Be honest with yourself, Nico. How do you really think your so-called friends are going to react once they know the truth, know what you’ve done.” 

Nico looked away, hands clenched into fists, and dropped the pleasantries. “What are you really doing here? What do you  _ want? _ ”

“I was hoping I could talk some sense into you before you do something reckless.” Hades looked him up and down, his brows furrowed slightly. “Oh you poor child. You told him him didn’t you?”

“I thought you wanted me to distance myself from you.”

“I did, but I was hoping you’d see reason eventually and follow in my stead, instead of gallivanting off and focusing on nonsensical projects.”

“I’m not like you.”

Hades actually smiled at that. 

“No,” he said. “You’re much more powerful than I could ever dream of being.” He took a step forward. “That’s why it’s so important we get this right. We’re family, we’re all each other has left in this cruel world.”

Another step. 

“I have Hazel.”

“Do you really want to drag her into our messes? She’s lived a normal life, meanwhile, you were raised in this.”

Nico knew there was truth to what Hades was saying. If Hazel had never found out about Nico or Hades’ involvement in her life she probably never would have came to National City. She never would have been shot.

“I’m only suggesting you truly think about who’s really on your side, because if you don’t, you might find yourself alone. Family sticks together, Nico. Remember that.”

Hades made his way over to the door. He gave a pause before opening the door.

“Oh by the way, your little problem has been taken care of. I’ve returned what was stolen.”

Hades nodded over to the chair he’d been sitting in. When Nico looked back at the door, Hades was gone.

Hesitantly Nico made his way over to the darkness. He could just barely see the item that sat beside the chair. Carefully he picked it up and brought it over to his desk. 

Nico’s breath caught as he saw what it was. A silver briefcase, the very same case that had been stolen a couple days ago. 

Knowing Hades it did not end well for the attackers. Nico almost felt sorry for them, but then again they had shot his sister. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
>  
> 
> Up next: A resolution

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!


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